The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1478946
CHURCH Jesus had seen them, as had probably most–-possibly all–of the people to whom he was speaking: children, playing in the market- place, and, in their play, imitating grown-up activities. As Jesus described them in his parable, the children in one group accused those in the other group, saying, "We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mour n." What was the problem? Play- ing at weddings was fun. Some in the group could pretend to play flutes, while the others formed up a circle and attempted to imi- tate the moves that they had seen their fathers, uncles, older broth- ers and older male cousins make at a wedding. Or, some could sing the funeral dirges, while the others beat on their breasts. But no–neither of those sug- gestions was acceptable to the children whose specialty seemed to be simply behaving in a dis- pleased and disagreeable manner. "To what then," inquired Jesus, "shall I compare the men of this generation ...? They are like chil- dren sitting in the marketplace ... " with one por tion of the group of fering to play either a happy game, or a game that imitated a sad occasion, while the other children in the group rejected all over tures. What did Jesus mean by that? He explained: "For John the Bap- tist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, 'Behold, a glutton and a dr unkard, a friend of tax collec- tors and sinners!"' The people who Jesus was ad- dressing imagined that they were entitled to, disapprove of both those contrasting approaches. Je- sus let them know that they were entitled to criticize neither. "Wisdom," Jesus informed those would-be critics, "is justi- fied by all her children." John the Baptizer was having considerable success with his as- cetic approach, with his garment of camel's hair girded in leather, and his abstemious diet of locusts and wild honey. He was packin' them in, there on the banks of the Jordan. People were coming from Jer usalem and all Judea to listen to his fier y preaching and to be baptized. Still, the critics carped, "He has a demon." Then Jesus came onto the scene, with an expanded diet and more extensive wardrobe, and the naysayers still were not satisfied. "Behold," they declared, "a glut- ton and a dr unkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners." Well, yeah! To cite only one instance: how much good came out of Jesus' visit to the home of that chief tax collector, Zacchaeus. Those who were complaining wished to criticize both approach- es; Jesus informed them that they were not entitled to censure ei- ther, for "Wisdom is justified by all her children." Each in its own way, in varied appropriate circumstances, either approach can have good ef fect. Which perhaps suggests that we ought not limit ourselves too much in our evangelism and out- reach to sinners, who are also our neighbors, to whom we owe good. It is not about what we like to do, or what we find pleasant or easy, but rather, about what they need, to be brought into the King- dom. So we are reminded of Jesus' words, "Therefore ever y scribe who has been trained for the king- dom of heaven is like a household- er who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." If our present–our "old"–at- tempts to obey the command to "bring them in" are not meeting with success, perhaps we need to add something "new"to our treasur y, by, say, attending a few training sessions put on by our church, or attempting to lear n from the people themselves how they understand their needs, or praying more ear nestly about the matter. We need not remain a one-trick pony. We can strive to become an entire team of mighty Clydes- dales. In that way, a larger load can be moved. A picture's meaning can express 10,000 words A Chinese proverb says, "A Pic- ture's Meaning Can Express Ten Thousand Words," (people wrongly translated it: a picture is worth one thousand words). Occasionally, a pic- ture comes along that goes beyond just capturing an event; the photo- graph symbolizes and often defines an era. It becomes a pictorial repre- sentation of the thoughts, feelings and the struggles associated with the time. For example: the U.S. Ma- rines raising the flag on Iwo Jima's Mt. Suribachi on 23 Februar y 1945. It needs no explanation. With virtually ever yone owning a cellphone and connected to the web, we can flash pictures instantly all over the world minus content. Yet pictures alone can be misleading. In recent years, some iconic photos have set off riots and caused wide- spread mayhem. What follows is a stor y about an iconic picture that had a happy ending. In 1936, at the height of the De- pression, Dorothea Lange was a photographer with the Farm Securi- ty Administration. In early 1936, she was concluding a month's trip photo- graphing migrator y farm labor—and their plight—in California. At Nipo- mo, she finds an appallingly large, squalid campsite of nearly 2,500 migrant farm workers. Newspaper advertisements promising work in the pea fields had lured the workers to the camp. They became stranded when prolonged; late-winter rains de- stroyed the crop. Close to the entrance of the camp, Lange finds a woman and a handful of children huddled in a tattered, lean-to tent. She takes six pictures of the heart wrenching scene. The last photograph is a portrait of the moth- er: one can see despair in her eyes as she stars anxiously off-camera, her hand raised to a drawn mouth as if to say she feels uncertain. This last picture would come to epitomize the struggle of the Great Depression. This photo became known as "The Migrant Mother" and became the icon of the Depression era. The next day, one picture taken by Lange was published on the front page of a San Francisco newspaper and was flashed to other newspapers. The stor y accompanying the photo told of the hunger and the needs of the people living in these impoverish work camps. It shocked people all over America when they discovered the plight of migrant workers. By the third day, cars and trucks arrived at the camps with food and supplies for the people in need; doctors arrived, people were fed, given clothes, helped with car re- pairs, and offered jobs. It was a miracle of love and giving. Ironically, the woman in the picture wasn't at the camp to benefit from it. She and her children had moved on to another camp shortly after the picture was taken. No one knew her name or where she went. And as Paul Har vey says, "that's the Rest of the Stor y." In time, they identified the wom- an in the picture as Florence Ow- ens Thompson. She resented the picture—as did her children—as South Gibson Church Services BUCKSKIN ST. JOHN'S CHURCH OF BUCKSKIN 8260 E. 900 S., Buckskin Sunday school 9 a.m.; Worship ser vice 10:15 a.m. CYNTHIANA FIRST UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST Corner of North and Walnut Sunday worship ser vice 9 a.m. FAIR HAVEN CHRIST FELLOWSHIP Church Street, Cynthiana Mike Douglas, Pastor Phone: 812-724-4735 Sunday morning worship 10 a.m.; Wednesday evening 7 p.m. FORT BRANCH BETHLEHEM GENER AL BAPTIST CHURCH 3208 W 525 S, Fort Branch (CR 325 W off of Hwy. 168) Steve Wilson, Pastor Bible study 9 a.m. Sunday worship 10 a.m. FIRST CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE 601 S. Lincoln, Fort Branch Pastor Br yan Holzappel Sunday school 9:30 a.m. Morning worship 10:30 a.m. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 212 West Locust, Fort Branch Pastor Corey Atkins Phone: 812-753-4623 Sunday school 9 a.m.; Worship ser vice 10 a.m. (Communion first Sunday); Second Cup of Coffee (la- dies' group) all ladies welcome, sec- ond Wednesday, 9 a.m. FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF FORT BR ANCH 100 W. Vine St., Fort Branch Rev. John Baylor, Jr., Pastor 812-753-4424 Sunday School 9:30 a.m.; Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m., nurser y pro- vided for preschool age and under. Youth Groups for grades 4-12 meet at 6 p.m. on Sunday evenings, Sept. through May. Details on the church website www.fbfirst.org. HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CHURCH 200 S. Church St., Fort Branch Fr. Gary Kaiser Pastor Joe Siewers, Deacon Saturday Mass 4:30 p.m.; Sunday Mass 8:30 a.m. PROVIDENCE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH CR 550 S., NE of Fort Branch Mitch Breidenbaugh, Pastor Sunday school for children and adults at 10:30 a.m.; worship 11 a.m.; For information, call 812-753- 3386. ST. LUCAS UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 6777 S. 350 East, Fort Branch Pastor John Heumann Sunday school 9:30 a.m.; Sunday worship 10:30 a.m. ST. BERNARD CATHOLIC CHURCH SNAKE RUN 5342 E. SR 168 (East of Fort Branch) 812-753-4568 Fr. Chris Forler, Pastor Sunday Mass 8:30 a.m. ST. PAUL'S UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 4222 E. SR 168, Fort Branch Pastor John Heumann Sunday worship 9 a.m.; Sunday school 10:15 a.m. VERTICAL CHURCH Coal Mine Rd., Fort Branch Rich Clark, Pastor Sunday morning worship ser vices 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Vertical Kids chil- dren's ministr y available during both ser vices for children from birth to fifth grade. Ignite Ministr y is 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays for students in sixth-12th grades. WESLEYAN CHURCH 202 E. Vine St., Fort Branch Sunday school from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.; Sunday worship, 10:30 a.m.; Sunday evening worship 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday evening adult Bible study, 6:30 p.m., GIG (Grow- ing in God) Club for ages 5 to 11 (available while school is in ses- sion), Teen Group for ages 12 and up. For more information call the church at 812-677-5007. HAUBSTADT NEW LIBERTY CHRISTIAN CHURCH Hwy. 68 between Cynthiana and Haubstadt Gordon Jones, Pastor Services Sunday 10:30 a.m. New Life House of Prayer 208 West Street, Haubstadt Adam and Lindsay Ping Phone: 812-215-9003 Sunday morning ser vice 10 a.m.; Children's Sunday school during ser vice; Food Pantr y open first and third Wednesdays of the month from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Ever yone welcome! IMMANUEL LUTHER AN CHURCH (LCMS) 1-1/2 miles south of I-64 and U.S. 41, Volkman Rd. Rev. Kirk Horstmeyer Saturday evening ser vices 5:30 p.m.; Sunday worship ser vices 8 a.m. and 10:15 a.m.; Sunday school 9:10 a.m. ST. JAMES CATHOLIC CHURCH Old Princeton Rd., Haubstadt Fr. Andrew Thomas, Admistrator Fr. Kenneth Betz, Parochial Bicar William Brandle, Deacon Saturday Mass 5 p.m.; Sunday Masses 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. STS. PETER AND PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH 201 Vine St., Haubstadt Fr. Andrew Thomas, Admistrator Fr. Kenneth Betz, Parochial Bicar William Brandle, Deacon Saturday Mass 5 p.m.; Sunday Masses 7 and 10 a.m. ZION UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST Second and Elm St., Elberfeld Rev. Paul Fraser Sunday school 9 a.m.; worship ser- vice 10 a.m. LYNNVILLE BARNET T CHAPEL Stanley Road, Lynnville Points to Ponder By Curtis Bond Two Minutes With the Bible By Pastor Ricky Kurth Reflections From the Page By Cleoramae G. Stunkel Why does it say, 'it repented the Lord? "Why does Genesis 6:6 say 'it repented the LORD that He had made man' if He knew in advance how sinful man would get?" You may be thinking that the word "repent" there means God regretted He made man, and my dictionar y says "regret" can mean "a looking back with dissatisfac- tion." This cannot be the meaning here, however, for it is not possi- ble that God would be dissatisfied with anything He has done. Like all words, repent can have dif ferent meanings. My dictio- nar y defines it as "to feel pain, sor row, or regret for something one has done." The word "or" here suggests that God didn't re- gret making man, He rather felt pain and sor row for having done so. The way the verse is word- ed makes this clear. It doesn't say the Lord repented making man, as it would if He regretted it. It says it repented the Lord, it pained Him, for their sin caused Him sor row. The rest of the verse verifies this interpretation when it explains, "and it grieved Him at His hear t." Sin still grieves the Lord, even after we are saved, so "grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemp- tion" (Eph. 4:30). Insight By Dave Ingler Comforted so we may comfort "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all com- fort, who comforts us in all our trou- bles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Corinthians 1: 3-4) The grace and goodness of God which we experience during times of sorrow, suffering difficulties and weakness should always be seen as having a multiple purpose. Not only does God's love provide comfort and strength as we need it, but His love and care prepares us for future in- volvement in the lives of others. No matter how severe our adversi- ty, a God-centered focus will help us understand His purposes and better equip us to comfort others who may be discouraged or defeated by the tri- A-6 Tuesday, September 13, 2022 South Gibson Star-Times See COMFORT on page 7 See PONDER on page 7 See CHURCH on page 7