The Press-Dispatch

Wednesday, April 26, 2023 The Press-Dispatch D-3 CHURCH Submit church items: Call: 812-766 -1611 Email: news@pressdispatch.net To sponsor our Church Notes and Facts About the Bible Please contact Pam 812-766-1611 plemond@pressdispatch.net Ramblings of my mind By Lowell Thomas Good deeds & punishment By Reverend Mike Miller First Baptist Church of Petersburg PAWS WEEK PAWS WEEK Pet of the DYNAMITE Great Dane and Lab Mix puppies: Once they love, they love steadily, unchangingly, till their last breath! This week PAWS is featuring a live- ly young fellow named Dynamite! Dynamite is a great Dane Lab mix and is quickly growing into his paws. It is no doubt that he will be a most grace- ful and statuesque dog once full grown. Right now, however, Dynamite is enjoying his days as a goofy pup showing off his long , limber, and springy moves in the dog yard playing with his equally as cute sister Shay. Dy- namite has smooth and glossy black and white fur with one white leg and one black. He has cute black freckles on his nose. Shay is mostly black with white accents. To adopt either of these adorable pups call 354- 9894. You can see more photos of both on petfind- er.com47567. PAWS is located at 4224 N. Meridan Road, Petersburg. EMAIL ������������� plemond@pressdispatch�net Email us your ad! Please include your name and phone number. We'll call you for your payment. CALL����������������������������������������� 812-766-1611 We Accept DEADLINE: APRIL 27 DEADLINE: APRIL 27 Leave message and we will return your call. SATURDAY, MAY 6 DEADLINE: THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2023 Line Ad up to 30 words (includes bold heading) for only $ 10 00 Any additional words 10¢ each 812-766-1611 MARRIAGE LICENSES Ashley Wilson, 35, of 4071 N. CR575 W, Petersburg, daughter of Debra Benner and Carl Benner to Jeremiah Raney, 34, of 4071 N. CR575W, Petersburg son of Cythina Raney and Matthew Raney. Adam Hamilton Craig Russell, 34, of 2924 N. CR, Petersburg, son of William Hadley and Christy Pitcher to Mariah Lenora Midkiff, 22, of 2821 Madison Ave., Evansville, daughter of Roger Midkiff and NonaSue Edwards. Evan Warren Lancaster, 37, of 215 N. 10th St., Petersburg, son of Larry Lancaster and Mary Freyer to Cortney Marie Ritchie, 31, of 215 N. 10th St., Petersburg, daughter of Thomas Ritchie and Wendy Dearing. Wow, what a week we have had at the Thomas household. My wife had her back surgery and we had a fair day Tuesday but it went downhill like a snowball. I had a blood work done Wednesday morning and my friend went with me in case I couldn't drive after my blood draw. When I left, my wife was a little uncomfortable so my friend and I came straight home from Evansville. As the day went on her uncomfortableness turned to pain and it was severe. Well off to the ER at Gateway Hospital and they admitted her, to try to control her pain, but before they admitted her, they discovered another vertebrae had collapsed and it needed the same type of surgery as the first one had. They couldn't do her surgery Thursday but Fri- day morning she was taken to surgery to fix the bad vertebrae. It was a successful surgery but she was still having pain so an- other night in hospital. This makes a little more than a month of medication which has taken a toll on her and has made her very uncomfortable. Hopefully her body will readjust and she will be able to come home soon. While driving Highway 69 everyday for a few days, I have been considering perhaps we are in Jolly Olde England be- cause there are many drivers on the left side of the road. It used to bother me watching these drivers staying in the left lane but I have gotten accustom to it so have at it, if it is what you need to do. I did mow one day this week and it is still refreshing riding on a new mower and it has made mowing more fun as well as comfortable. I got to cover the story about the Leadership Pike County graduation last Tuesday. These people have learned many things which gives them the ability to help our county. One of the things they have learned was how our government is supposed to work to help us and try to make life more equal among all of us. It doesn't always work the way it should but at least we are free. I have been trying to do what my wife does every day, and one of the chores I have been trying to do is to get our grand- son off to school. So far I have been able to get him off with a smile and I love you Papa. Tomorrow is Sunday and I will try to go to church and then to the hospital to hopefully take my wife home but I do hope and pray for her to be better one way or another. Not the longest Rambling I've ever written but under the circumstances it'll have to do. Remember to be a blessing and to accept all blessings coming your way. "For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:17-18 It was the summer of 1996, and I was fifteen years old. The Olympic Games were being held in Atlanta, and a bag full of pipe bombs were discovered by a man named Richard Jewell in Centenni- al Olympic Park. Jewell, for his part, did exactly what we would want anyone to do. He immediately alerted law enforcement and helped to evacuate the area and saved many people from injury or death. However, in a quint- essential case of 'No Good Deed Goes Unpunished," he was quickly iden- tified by the FBI as the number one suspect due to psychological profiling. For 88 days, Jewell was dragged through the gauntlet of media specula- tion and the court of public opinion. When the dust settled, he was exonerated and, in 2005, Eric Rudolph confessed to the crime and was sentenced to consecutive life terms in prison. Easy as it would have been to leave an unattended back- pack alone in the middle of a crowded park, Jewell saw something suspicious and acted according to good moral sense and in keeping with his duties. He did some- thing good, but the reward he reaped was one of the more miserable three- month stretches a person could experience. In the passage above, Peter has been pleading with Christians not to repay evil for evil, but to do good even in the face of evil. He then sums up his argument by reminding us that if we're going to suffer, it is best if that suffering comes on ac- count of doing good rather than doing what is evil. This is kind of a foreign concept in practice, because we all ex- pect that if we do good, good things happen to us. Some call it karma. However, kar- ma is a foreign concept to the Scriptures. The fact is that Je- sus flat out told his followers that following him would not make them popular except with people who wanted to kill them. Instead, we are encouraged to do good, not because we expect a reward, but because doing good is the right thing to do. Any benefit we may gain in this life is simply the proverbial icing on the cake. That is not to say there is nev- er a benefit. In fact, there is a sure and certain benefit to doing good—we get to dis- play the image of Jesus Christ to those around us and we are more like him when we suffer for doing good. And so, as the Apostle Paul charged, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Go out today, do something good, and let the chips fall where they may. Monday 8-7 • Tuesday 8-noon • Wednesday 10-7 • Thursday & Friday 8-5 eye exams • dry eye solutions prescription lenses • eye disease treatment Call to book your appointment today for safe in-offi ce treatment. Don't Neglect Your Eye Health. We're Open to See You Now! Dr. Clint Shoultz 715 S. 9th St., Petersburg 812-354-9400 Locally Owned and Operated

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