The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1312729
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, November 25, 2020 C-3 CHURCH Submit church items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg The church page is made possible by the following firms and businesses: Amber Manor Care Center Petersburg — 812-354-3001 Benner & Co. Heating and Air Petersburg — 812-354-3433 Computers Plus Radio Shack Petersburg — 812-354-9633 DougGlass DBA Hold Everything Self Storage — 812-354-1110 Four Star Fabricators Petersburg — 812-354-9995 www.fourstarfab.com Harris Funeral Home 7th and Walnut Streets, Petersburg Phone: 812-354-8844 Play & Learn Preschool Campbelltown — 812-354-3999 Ramblings of my mind By Lowell Thomas The golden years Religious Viewpoint By Dr. Clyde Dupin See MINUTES on 5 See R AMBLINGS on 5 See VIEWPOINT on 5 Fear of death — Is it necessary? Minutes with the Bible By Pastor Cornelius R. Stam Most people live in almost constant fear of death. They do not like to think that man's days are as grass and all his glory as the glory of a fading flower (Psa. 103:15,16). They do not wish to face up to the fact that "it is appointed unto men once to die" (Heb. 9:27). This is natural, for God's Word declares that death is "the wages of sin" (Rom. 6:23) and "after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27) and the "second death" (Rev. 20 :14). This is why I Cor. 15:56 says that "The sting of death is sin." Yet the Psalmist David was not afraid of death. He said: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil" — but note the reason: "for Thou art with me" (Psa. 23:4). David had come to know God and had been graciously delivered from the fear of death. But we, today, have an even great- er reason to be free from the fear of death, for 1,000 years after David, Saul of Tarsus, the chief of sinners, was saved by grace and was sent forth to proclaim the "gospel [good news] of the grace of God" (Acts 20 :24). He went forth to tell men how "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor. 15:3) and robbed Satan of all his claims against us: Many elderly people find the "Golden Years" have little gold. They worked, dreamed, con- tributed and now many feel it is slipping away when they need it most. The moral decay in our society and, espe- cially, among our political leaders has placed the emphasis on possessions more than peo- ple. Our political leaders have little respect for the unborn and the elderly. Many have worked hard and paid into government plans only to fear the future may not provide the lifesav- ing Medicare they spent years paying for. In countries with Socialism and government run health care there is little respect for seniors. There is a strange political push for doctor-as- sisted suicide and euthanasia. When a govern- ment no longer values all life and has no regard for traditional marriage it will decay and fall like other great civilizations of the past. I talk with many seniors who feel threatened and afraid. The baby boomers are dumping their parents. Granny dumping is hap- pening all over America. According to one study 70,000 elderly people are dumped across the nation each year. Near- ly 90 % of the victims of granny dumping are I' m sitting here at my computer and I'm hav- ing trouble believing that I feel quite a bit bet- ter. Andy ran my last article again because I wasn't strong enough to even try writing. It has taken all we could do to just survive day to day. Each day of the COVID is a new experience and if there are any rules it makes them up as you go along. Our biggest problem was the weakness of body and terrible daily headaches. My condition got worse as we had to have chest xrays and I have pneumonia in one lung which with medicine I am dealing with it. The way things are going it seems as though every family might have to experience their own battle with COVID. I hope you come out of it as well as we seem to be. I see Ken- ny Robbins pretty often working around his home and he really keeps things nice. Kenny is my shout-out this week and he was another great operator to work with. Seems like I have heard him called "Bobbins" but not that often. Kenny worked as a USO and could always be counted on. We pray many blessings for him and his family. Being laid up for almost two weeks caused me to be behind on normal chores. When I fi- nally felt like doing something with our trash I realized there was a truck load of it. As a rule our lawn takes some work but be- ing unable to be out makes the job seem over- whelming. My neighbors were going to help but my yard is full of surprises if you aren't used to it, so I thanked them and told them CHURCH CHURCH Notes Notes Notes The center of God's will By Grace Miller Pastor Chad Searls has been serving the Lord at the Petersburg Holiness Church for seven years. Originally planning on being a farmer, Searls listened to God's call- ing throughout his life and eventually became a pastor after serving as a minister of music, assistant pastor and full-time traveling evangelist. Searls grew up in Morgan County, Ohio, and was not raised in a Christian home, though he was not fully unfa- miliar with church, as his fam- ily attended from time to time. He began to attend church regularly in high school after he started to like a girl whose father made it a requirement Searls go to church with the family in order to date her. A f- ter attending the Santoy Holi- ness Chapel at the age of 17, Searls gave his heart to Jesus Christ on June 10, 1990. "I got saved that Sunday morning, and Jesus totally changed my life," Searls said. A fter he graduated high school, Searls was working in a factory and farming on the side, with future plans to go in- to the cattle industry. He soon began to feel the Lord calling him to attend Bible College, though he was not yet called to preach. He was lead to Union Bible College in West- field, which was about four and a half hours away from his home. "I had never driven on my own on the interstate hardly at all," he said with a laugh. "I was a country boy, but the Lord certainly won the de- bate… He made it very, very clear to me that He wanted me to go to Union Bible Col- lege; I'd never been there in my life." Searls did not let his unfa- miliarity with the interstate and the college stop him from God's calling. He began at- tending Union in 1993. At this college, Searls met his now wife, Valerie, who is from Wheatland. She began attending the following Janu- ary, midterm. "We began to date, fell in love, and the next thing I know, we're engaged to marry," Searls said. The couple got married on Aug. 12, 1995, at the Twin Oaks Ho- liness Church in Petersburg. Searls attended seminary at Westfield for two years and described the times as "great days." The leadership at the school approached him on a few occasions, asking him if he felt the call to preach. Searls said he would answer in the negative and stated, "I was just being as honest as I could be." Searls and his wife left Westfield after they were wed to serve as ministers of music in New Castle at the New Cas- tle Pilgrim Holiness Church. There, the couple did evan- gelistic singing. Searls had a secular job as well, while Val- erie finished her teacher's ed- ucation degree at Ball State University. In 1996, over the Fourth of July weekend, God began to work on Searls' heart and called him to preach. "It was not a difficult thing for me to answer in the affirmative…" Searls said. He told the story of an el- derly woman, named Lin- da Wilson, in his hometown who would always say to him, "Chad, when you grow up, you'll either be the president of the United States, or you'll be a preacher." "She was a little prophet- ess, wasn't she? " he laughed. "And I believe I got the high- er calling," he added. While driving down from New Castle to spend time with his wife's family in Knox County, Searls asked her what she thought about God calling him to preach. Searls remem- bered her saying, "That will be just fine. I've always felt like, perhaps, I'd be married to a preacher." "I didn't struggle to answer that call… The only struggle was just making sure," said Searls. "I am of a firm per- suasion [and strong convic- tion], if we do not have a gen- uine call to preach from God that we should not be in the ministry. I have a pretty firm conviction, and the ministry should never be a profession. It should always be regarded as the highest calling." Following the Lord's direc- tion, Searls became the assis- tant pastor at the New Cas- tle Pilgrim Holiness Church for nearly three years. A fter those three years, the Lord began leading the Searlses in a new direction. They began to pray and wait on the Lord's timing, while they wondered what was to come next. The couple ended up go- ing into full-time evangelistic work in 1998 for 15 years, trav- eling across the Midwest and serving at various Holiness churches. They were original- ly based out of Searls' home- town in Ohio, before moving it to Wheatland in 2001. They mostly lived and traveled in a fifth-wheel travel trailer and diesel truck. While on the road, the Searlses started their family in 2000, when their first child, Julene, was born. About four years later, the family was joined by Josiah, and, five years after, Jace was born. In June 2013, the Searlses followed God's calling and continued their ministry at the Petersburg Holiness Church, where Searls is cur- rently the pastor. Searls men- tioned there was an interest- ing twist to the story, though. "My wife had been raised in the church that we pastor," he revealed. "So, we're actu- ally pastoring my wife's home church." Before he began pastoring in Petersburg, Searls was told he should pastor at the church by Reverend Paul Mullen. At the time, Searls responded, "No thanks." The Lord, how- ever, had different plans. Searls has been the pastor for "seven wonderful years," though the past year has been challenging due to COVID-19. This has not stopped the church, though. With a con- ference call line, a drive-in service, a lot of prayer and the theme song, "A Prayer is Just as Big as God Is," the Petersburg Holiness Church continues to worship the Lord and minister to others, rang- ing from the church's next- door neighbors to people out of state. Searls has enjoyed his min- istry in Petersburg and said, "We're just happy to be in the center of God's will, and God has given us a fruitful minis- try." The Searls family (l to r): Josiah, Chad, Valerie and Jace. Not pictured: Julene.