McDonald Road Seventh-day Adventist Church Vol. 14 No. 9           September, 2001

Newsletter of the McDonald Road Seventh-day Adventist Church

Here is an update on the fund-raising for the new parking lot that has been completed. The complete goal was $150,000 and I would like to announce that there has been $105,000 raised thus far. The remaining balance is $45,000 yet to be paid. We will start with phase II for the building structure project at the McDonald Rd. S.D.A. Church. This will include the Educational Facility, and the new Sabbath School Departments, plus the new Secretary's office, new Treasurer's office. There will be more Janitorial space for storage, and a new Conference Room for board meetings as well. New Pastors' Offices will be added along with a much larger foyer that is greatly needed. There will be much more seating space in the Sanctuary as well.

This seems to be the season when unannounced money may come your way, some may want to give 10%, others may give 50%, but whatever you may give, may it come from your heart. In the foyer is the thermometer chart, this is the one for the parking lot only. The next chart will be on the building structure of the church, that will be later on in the year. Thank you so much for giving from your heart . May God richly bless every one of you.

Your brother in Christ, Warren B. Oliver

As each has received a gift. Employ it for one another as a good steward of God's varied grace. 1 Peter 4:10

Right here in our own Family Center, there will be a health festival on September 30. A festival for young and old. The festival will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be a lunch for a small cost from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

We are attempting to create a festive setting to improve a person's health and quality of life. We'll be emphasizing ten basic constructive techniques in how to change to a healthy lifestyle. This information will help people to develop habits that will prevent many diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and more. This will help people that may already have some of these diseases.

Fitzone in Collegdale will provide fitness screening. Parish nurses will provide blood pressure screening. Dr. Donald Shelby, Dr. Luke Inankur, Dr. Leo Van Dolson and Dr. Izak Wessels will be conducting various screenings.

There will be games for the children, door prizes (also a grand prize), booths, food samples and more.

Investment cans are alive, but not well. Scrap prices for aluminum are down. That means we need to take longer walks and save more cans to achieve the goal. We have a little over 100 lbs.

At 30 cents a pound, we need more cans.

Ken Oliver 236-4266.

Pastor's Challenge

Our GPS God

Don Gettys

Our church is blessed with several dozen Ham Radio operators of which I am honored to be one. A dozen or more of us attended a Hamfest in Huntsville a couple of weeks ago. On the way there someone allowed me to experiment with their Global Positioning Satellite Receiver. I was astonished that this small GPS could display my latitude and longitude as we drove along. Not only that, but I soon found it knew my location on the map and traced our movement along the road. When we came to an exit it knew the names of all the gas stations and restaurants there. Out came my elevation and the exact speed we were going (80.9 MPH at one point)! No I was not driving! (Don't ever give one of these to your wife). It knew where we had been and knew just how many miles it was to our destination.

I got to thinking about that contraption. Anywhere I went it knew my whereabouts, even showing which side of the freeway I was on. I could not hide from it. My location was revealed to within 14 feet. Then my thoughts went to God. Jeremiah 17:10 (New Living Translation) "I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives." God knows where we are. No secret is hidden from Him. Psalm 90:8 says that even our secret sins are fully exposed in the light of His presence. No one can hide from God. He knows everything about us. (Scary thought).

Finally my thoughts journeyed down the path of the completeness of God's knowledge about me. He knows all my sins. Every one of them. He knows my thoughts right now. My weaknesses are fully discerned by God. The amazing thing is, that despite all this, He loves me. When He has every reason to be angry with me or even destroy me, instead, He loves me. That is an awesome thought. I am convinced that if each of us really knew the extent of God's love toward us, we would all respond to Him and we would all be saved. Friend, Jesus loves you. Can you believe it? What are you going to do about it?

- - - Pastor Don Gettys

There's a "Wellness 2001" contest for the Primary I, Primary II, Juniors and Earliteens. This is a health contest to help our children to be more aware of their health.

They will be making 12" x 15" posters on exercise, water (bathing or drinking), light (early and late), healthy diet (fresh foods without milk, eggs or cheese--a total vegetarian diet), fresh air, sleep (rest), temperance (no harmful habits, no excesses of any kind).

The contest will end on September 8. The posters need to be brought to Sabbath School on this date. The child's name, age and class should be on the poster.

Parents, please encourage your child to participate in the contest. There will be first, second and possibly third place prizes awarded.

Cook Book Update

What's happening with our cookbooks? Are you wondering when they will be published? We the committee have extended our fund-raising for the cookbooks until the 2nd week of Sept. This will give more time for others who haven't had a chance to turn their recipe in. Completed recipes can be placed in the recipe collection box with your $12.00 check payable to the McDonald Rd. Church Cookbooks.

If you are wondering what's for dinner, you'll have a solution in the McDonald Road Church Cookbook, when enough recipes are turned in. Remember the profits from this cookbook will go to the Building Fund for church expansion. For more information contact Janice Oliver at 423.396.3099. If you wish to email a recipe, do so at oliver423@aol.com

Come and see our new Sabbath Resource Center on McDonald website! Lots of new materials are now available for you to share with your friends! We just published a NEW online book by Elder George Stevens, titled: Examination of the Seventh Day Sabbath It is a comprehensive work with 12 chapters. You will not want to miss it!

Also, we have a special directory with a nice variety of Sabbath materials that will be worth your while to see. McDonald Road has a variety of major presentations on the Sabbath that will assist you as you reach out to others. The pages by Dwight Waterhouse are included, as well as Bible Studies by Gertrude Battle. Our belief page is there, and lots of links to other excellent Adventist Sabbath resources.
Oh yes! I must tell you that we have stuff for the kids too! We even have children's stories! We will continue working on the Sabbath Resource Center, so more material will be added all the time. Come and see! Don't miss out! Visit us at:

http://mcdonaldroad.org

If you would like to help, there's plenty to do! If you are an artist, and would like to donate your time to draw color pictures of the 4 beasts and other Bible illustrations, you could be a real blessing to the world as we continue to upgrade our website. For this, or to offer other talents,write to: volunteer@mcdonaldroad.org

God will bless as we work for Him!

—Dean Saunders, Internet Ministry Coordinator

MEDIA CLIPS:     Are You Compatible?

By Dean Saunders

As Americans we like to plan ahead. But as Americans we often assume that "Everything is Going to be Alright!" and we don't pay too much attention to the details ahead of time. Then the time comes, and we find ourselves with a big compatibility problem. We get married to the thought that "it will work out." Then we get there and discover that we just can't work with that "Missing Ingredient!"

Let's get specific and talk for a minute about that special program you are planning at the church. Is your program compatible with our church? Is the church capable of making it work? Will all of your well thought out plans be of no use because we do not have access to the equipment you are depending on?

Please check with the AV/Media team ahead of time so that your best program can be presented with the biggest impact! ...and for those items we do not possess, such as a data projector, help us get one so our presentations can be better in the future. Oh, yes, and THANK YOU to each one who has already been donating to this cause :)

Positive Lifestyle:     Our Family Name - Leguminosae

We are inexpensive, and excellent source of complex carbohydrates, iron, B-vitamins, zinc, potassium and magnesium. We have no cholesterol, but lots of fiber and plenty of protein. I am one of God's greatest little surprises. If you guessed legumes, you're correct.

Actually, we are seeds, this is why we are so nutritious. We contain plenty of nutrients to reproduce ourselves as well as sustain new plant growth. Isn't our Creator just awesome? There are many members to our family and we all grow differently. Some of us are boiled in our shells, baked or roasted. Did you know that sweet clover, alfalfa and peas are in our family, also?

We have a long history dating back to the beginning of this earth's history and have been the staple food for the Indians. For thousands of years some of our ancestors were in jars in the Egyptian pyramids and guess what? Many of them sprouted after this long, dry storage ! Thousands of years!

Our Heavenly Father knew legumes were very important. The first nutritional trial was done back with Daniel and his friends. Legumes won!

Some of our ancestors were found in the Ocampo caves in Mexico - a few thousand years old! We have gone on boats to feed the sailors. Our cousin, the navy bean, got it's name this way. The early Greeks and Romans even voted by using white beans for "yes" and colored beans for "no".

In Europe, there was always a legume porridge simmering on the stove. This is where the saying "Peas porridge hot" came from. Oh it is so good! In Beantown (Boston) we were eaten quite regularly on Saturday nights with brown bread made with raisins and molasses in the beans. The molasses wasn't added to the beans and bread until about the eighteenth century.

We produce four hundred and fifty pounds of protein per acre as soy beans. Other beans add nitrogen back to the soil to make it healthier, as well. (Actually, ounce for ounce, we are an excellent buy with no waste! We swell to two or three times our original size, so we go a long way. We are low in fat, as well.

Soy beans and garbanzos have a balanced amino-acid content, but we all can be eaten with a whole grain and become balanced. Many countries have favorite main dishes with this combination of legumes and grains. You can do this, too.

We are known for our soluble fiber, so diabetics can eat us quite often for we help decrease fasting blood sugar. We digest slowly, so we stay in the stomach longer and you don't feel hungry quite so fast. We help with constipation, helping to eliminate carcinogens after intestinal bacteria which lowers tumor activity. We help with weight gain and high blood pressure in a short time.

Yee-aah, we do have a down side for some people. All you have to do is soak us properly, rinse and drain us before cooking us thoroughly - slow and long. Drink plenty of water in between meals.

We don't lose many nutrients by long cooking, 90% are retained. We do need to be stored in a sealed container at cool temperatures. Don't cook old beans in with new ones for they will cook unevenly. We can be frozen. Soy beans and chickpeas can be soaked and put in the freezer to add to dishes. We don't like salt added to the cooking water until the end. We do rebel! Seasonings can be added at the beginning. Hope you like us. -- "Beany"

---Charlene Anderson

Health and Temperance Leader

What Part Does Church Play in Our Lives? Part II

By Melissa Turner

Last month we discussed the importance of not depending on the weekly church service to provide enough spiritual nourishment for the coming week. We discussed the importance of developing a personal, daily friendship with Jesus outside of church activities. We also mentioned the important role our daily relationship with Jesus plays in the work that God has for us to do.

This month I would like to express the importance of each of our individual roles in God's work for us as well as the role of the church in His work. There is a very famous acronym which has been inspired by the book, "In His Steps," by Charles W. Sheldon. What Would Jesus Do? Is the question that it asks. Following in Jesus' footsteps should be our individual goal as Christians. But how do we even start this?

First of all, let's look at what Jesus actually did. When Jesus came to earth the Jewish nation was very corrupt. The leaders of the temple were selfserving while the common people were just scraping along. When Jesus began His ministry He became an incredible comfort to the common people because He cared about the needs of the people more than His own.

While the priests were worried about their own affairs, Jesus would heal, teach, and comfort the people. The people would come to Him at all hours of the day and night. They didn't leave Him alone. But, He didn't get angry and turn them away. He beckoned them and ministered to their needs. Jesus was a peopleperson. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve" (Matthew 20:28). Jesus put others' needs before His own.

I John 2:6 says, "Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did" (I John 2:6). Basically, this verse is telling us to walk in Jesus' footsteps. Is a friend sick? Take him and his family some food. Does a pastor need some encouragement? Tell him how much you appreciated his sermon. Is someone you know of in need? Minister to them just as Jesus ministered to the people of His time.

Ernest Southcott said, "The holiest moment of the church service is the moment when God's people strengthened by preaching go out of the church door into the world to be the Church. We don't go to church; we are the Church."

So if we are the Church and our mission is to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them. . .and teaching them. . ." (Matthew 28:19, 20), why do we go to Church services? Because going to a weekly Church service and having fellowship with fellow Christian believers helps prepare us and strengthen us in our endeavor to follow in Jesus' footsteps.

In fact, Jesus prayed for us believers to live in unity. In John 17:20, 21 Jesus says, "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their [the disciples'] message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you."

The results of sin separate the sinner from his society with God and man. Sin is separation from God and fellow humans, because it is selfserving. But, when fellow Christians draw together in Christ's love they are living in the unity for which Jesus prayed.

It is when Christians draw together in fellowship that the greatest work can be accomplished. Think about the churches that our church family has built in India and Costa Rica. It is because of a small portion of the Christian community working together that these institutions were constructed.

In conclusion of this series, I just want to again say, no, we should not depend on Church for our personal devotional needs. We must develop our own personal friendship with Jesus in order to be strong Christian individuals.

But, yes, we should come together as a Church family in order to worship the God we love, encourage one another in our personal walks with Him, enjoy fellowship with fellow Christian believers, and spread the news of the love that we have each experienced on a personal basis to all the world so that other people can experience the joy of God's love too!

What an incredible opportunity we have as Christians! Not only do we have a friend in Jesus, but we have Christian friends to worship with and work with in spreading the Gospel.

I especially pray for each one of you teen readers that you will develop a personal, daily friendship with Jesus and that you will discover the joy in having a Church family to worship with at Church each week, to play with at social activities, and to work with in spreading the Good News!

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last updated 09/9/2001 by Dean Saunders.