You Have My Permission To Gossip All You Want

Did you ever hear the true story of a man named, Coval Russell.  He spent 426 days in jail for stabbing his landlord with a pocketknife back in April 2001. It was the only time he ever ran afoul of the law. That is really something incredible, for he was 90 years old when he committed his crime. He had never even had a traffic ticket before.

He was a World War II veteran who lived in Paradise, California until he got in trouble.
Behind bars, the other inmates of Butte County Jail called him "Pops" and gave him dibs on the TV set, let him go first in the food line, and reserved him a place in the Monopoly game marathons.  Blind in one eye and suffering from prostate cancer, Russell loved his tiny cell. The relationships he formed with the transient population in jail appear to have rescued him from a life of unmitigated loneliness.

As the time drew near for Mr. Russell to be released, he petitioned the court to remain in jail. The lifelong bachelor had outlived all of his relatives. He was no longer welcome in Paradise. The only place he felt he had any friends was in the Butte County Jail. So he told the judge he would kill himself if he was sent "back out there" where he had nobody.

He had plenty of money in his bank account. He had no mental illness that either incapacitated him or made him a threat to others. So the judge had no choice but to order him released at the end of June.

After two weeks of living in a motel, he took a cab to a 40-foot high bridge and apparently jumped headfirst onto river rocks below. The man who had told someone he had nothing to live for was dead.

This sad story reminds all of us that there are people around us who are incredibly lonely. All of them are locked in a prison of a different kind, a prison of loneliness.  There is no greater misery than feeling unwanted, and unloved?

Loneliness was the first thing God saw in all creation that he said was not good. It’s too bad Mr. Russell didn’t know about a good loving Church.  When I first heard about this story I thought what a shame that there wasn’t a Church there to minister to him.  But then I thought about our Church.  We certainly are a loving, caring, and ministering Church, but how many are there that live within walking distance of our church, or on the same street with some our members, who don’t know that we are there for them?  How many come to a lonely tragic end wishing there was someplace they could go to feel loved and accepted?  How many of them wish there was someone who would care about them?

Look up and down your street. Look at the people you see as you come to our church.  Look at the people who are waiting in the Dr.’s office and at the Pharmacist.  How many are feeling alone?  Let’s gossip the good news that there is a place for them to find a friend at Colonial Heights Baptist Church.

Don't Flunk Retirement

The point of the chapter is that many move into retirement years thinking they are going to take on an entirely new life style only to find that they miss much of what they gave up so much so that they are miserable.

They fail to realize that much of what they are doing when they reach that age, are things that they really enjoy doing.  It is who they are.  Things like church, recreation, community involvement are things they got involved in because they enjoyed it and because it gave them a sense of fulfillment.  That is also where all of their friendships had been developed through the years and now they were missing both the sense of fulfillment and purpose as well as many of the friends from those activities.

I think that especially the sense of purpose and fulfillment and the friends found in the church would be the most important of things to hang on to and to cherish.  I have noticed that many Senior Adults move into their retirement years and they resign from every position of leadership in the church, and drop out of many of the activities that they had once been very active in.  I have also watched those who do this soon loose their sense of direction and purpose for life.  You can find joy in no commitments for only a short time and then it begins to affect your sense of worth. 

Rather than dropping out of all these things, it seems that the best way to approach retirement years is to renew your commitment to being involved in activities that bring you that sense of purpose and fulfillment.  There should be more time and energy to develop a ministry.  What is it that you get the most pleasure from in relation to the church?  Give yourself more completely to that and you will find a greater sense of excitement and energy will follow.  Use your time and energy to invest in Kingdom activities.  Develop your skills and interests rather than letting them go dormant.  Search out ways to focus on the needs of others or you soon will become a person in need of ministry from others.

Whatever you do, don’t flunk retirement – make the most of it!

Are You Going the Right Way?

I Think I'm Having a Wife!

I Could Not Have Said It Better Myself...

A little over a year ago, we began having one of our Senior Adult LIFEgroups meet off campus. They meet every Sunday morning at 9:30 at Ridgeland Pointe and George Gravier is their teacher. We choose to meet there because at the time, Bob And Odene Evans were residents there and Bob had been a member of George’s class.  The number of residents at that home attending the class continues to grow, and the ministry of our church has been able to expand to Seniors in our community that we would have never reached had we not moved a class over there.  George is doing a great job of ministering to the residents there! 

Recently, I received a letter from one of the men that attends that class, thanking me for the ministry of our church to them, and for not seeing them as a lost cause.  He has been greatly encouraged by the ministry of that class and wanted to thank all of us for reaching out to them.  He was so encouraged and challenged spiritually, that he wrote something that I want to share with all of you.  As the title of this article says, I
couldn’t have said it better.  I hope it will encourage and challenge you…

LIFE  

(Reflections)

Every person has received a Gift that is wonderful, enjoyable, entertaining, and mostly consisting of memorable, joyful, and rewarding experiences. This is the Gift of Life, given to us by a loving and all-powerful God, Who is willing to meet our every need. Life is mostly joyful and exciting, and even when sadness and disappointments come (and surely they will), they are wiped away by a loving, willing, tender, and a forgiving God.

The wonderful and promising feature of Christian life is that as we advance in years, we have so much more to look forward to in the future than we did in things of our past years. Blessings, family experiences, and achievements by all family members are pleasant to remember, but the Best is for last! The anticipation and promise of an eternity with Jesus and our dear ones is inexplicable and cause for uncontrollable joy and expectations, not to forget assurance of our faith. We can advance to the end of
 life’s earthly journey, with an assurance that our future is secure and provided for by a merciful and loving Heavenly Father. How a person could go through life without a belief in Christ and assurance of life to come is almost beyond comprehension.

To be realistic, earthly life is here and gone in just a “blink of the eye,” so the hereafter is the most important thing to be imagined. Just think: our parents, life-mates, children, friends, ancestors, grand-ones, and all of our unknown Saints of God will be waiting there for us to enjoy forever and ever!

To a Christian, all of this is not just a fantasy or dream, or wishful thinking, but is very, very real. So, I don’t buy the idea many seem to have that Old Age is a prelude to the end of life, but it is the Gateway to a wonderful, new experience that is everlasting!

Never Give Up!