LIVING WATER
OPEN DOOR EMMAUS COMMUNITY
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LIVING WATER |
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OPEN DOOR EMMAUS COMMUNITY |
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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR |
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Luelda Robichaux |
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Greetings in the name
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! |
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Last week I was driving to work, going my usual way, when a few blocks from my house, something out of the ordinary caught my eye. I looked, and at first I thought one of the houses had exploded or something. There was a large hole in the middle of it, and the roof had caved in. Then I noticed several cranes and bulldozers, and I realized that the house was being torn down. I wondered what was going on. The house had been empty for quite awhile, but it had appeared to be in good shape...a nice brick house, not even in need of repair. |
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A couple of days later, I read in the paper that 25 condemned houses were being demolished all over the city that week. I realized that the house I had seen was most likely one of those houses that had been condemned. It had looked perfectly sound on the outside, but something must have been wrong inside the house that I could not see. I started thinking about how we are like that too. We appear to “have it all together”; everything on the outside looks good, but on the inside we are wounded and hurting. We put on a good front, but things are not really right in our hearts. We may fool the world, and we can sometimes fool even the ones who are closest to us, but we can never fool God. He is waiting to restore us, to make us whole again. And the most wonderful thing is no matter how bad a condition we’re in, we never have to be condemned or demolished! Our God is a God of redemption and restoration! |
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| DeColores, Luelda |
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CLERGY CORNER |
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Rev. Jack Hunnicutt |
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... but you shall be
called priests of the Lord, |
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Jesus said, "And remember, I am
with you always, to the end of the age." |
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| I have a dear friend who is not only a jeweler, but also an artist in silver and gold. When Alice and I lived in Junction, in the Texas Hill Country, for twenty years I would visit his studio store most days for a few minutes. Gwyn was a friend that would not only listen patiently to my pains and gripes but would tell me the truth - the unvarnished painful truth. | |||||
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One day I was at his bench complaining about 7 day
weeks and events that controlled my life rather than being under my control.
No time for relaxing. No time to play. It was 'hit the study every day.' At
home, the telephone would always ring just as the food was served on the plate. Run to San Angelo to the hospital, then to Kerrville and/or San Antonio. Preach every Sunday morning in Junction and then in Roosevelt or Ivy Chapel that night. Run, run, run- go, go, go. No time for Jack. Gwyn did not say a word nor interrupt me a single time as I recited this catalogue of woe but listened patiently until I finally ran down and stopped talking. Then, he turned around, replaced his magnifying loop to his eye, picked up his graving tool and returned to the gold belt buckle he was engraving. - We sat in silence for some time. Finally, I could stand the silence no longer and said, "Well?" "Well, what?" he replied not stopping from his work. |
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| "Well! .... Say something?" "Nothing to say," he replied as he continued to engrave, "you want me to feel sorry for you and I don't." - A long silence followed. God sees us as we are, not as we pretend to be. And we are to remember that we are never alone and that we are recipients of the presence and strength of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's strength is sufficient for all our needs. A message I needed to hear and still need to hear. Thanks be to God! | |||||
| De Colores. | |||||
| Jack Hunnicutt | |||||
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FROM THE LAY DIRECTOR |
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Roy Williams |
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... for you will be
his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard. |
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DAY FOUR
… I was in prison and you visited me. Matthew 25:35 NRSV. |
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Visiting people in prison is another way that Christ says we can make disciples. Most of us don’t want to do this one. Why should we go mingle with thieves, murderers and rapists? We should go because they are God’s children and He will forgive their sins just as He will forgive ours if asked to do so. Also, we should keep in mind that at the time Christ gave this example of mission work, there did not have to be a crime or a trial. People could be thrown in prison for debt or because someone in a position of power didn’t like them. But what about today? We now have surveillance cameras and DNA testing to identify both the innocent and the guilty. Those in prison are still God’s children, our brothers and sisters. It is our duty as Christians to help them find their way (back) to God. The Kairos and Epiphany ministries provide us with the opportunity to make disciples of those who are in prison. These ministries have the added benefit to society of reducing the recidivism rates. I acknowledge that prison ministry is not for everyone. Hearing those gates and doors clank shut behind you sends an uneasy feeling through your whole body. Being locked in with someone else controlling the key is too great a psychological overload for some. That is OK. You don’t have to actually go inside to be involved in prison ministry. We all can write letters of encouragement, bake cookies, make agape, make a monetary donation, and participate in the prayer vigil. Please become involved in some way with prison ministry. Go and make disciples. Christ is counting on me and you. |
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DeColores |
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HIS WONDERFUL WORKS |
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Assembled from various sources by the newsletter staff |
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"O give thanks to
the Lord, call on His name, make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of His wonderful works." |
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