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Vol. 48, No.
2 SOUTHSIDE ORACLE March
11, 2005
The Bulletin Board
Guest Speaker – We welcome Jim Coehoorn, preacher for the Elkhorn
congregation, who will be our guest speaker at the Sunday morning services.
Southside assists the Elkhorn congregation financially. Bobby Valentine
will be preaching Sunday at Elkhorn.
Men’s Breakfast – Our annual area-wide men’s breakfast will be Saturday
at 8:30 a.m. We regularly have over 100 in attendance for the breakfast.
Guest speaker will be Dale Walker, who preaches for the Fond du Lac
congregation. Southside men who are available are invited to set up for the
breakfast at 7:00 p.m. Friday. For information contact Wayne Alexander or
Bruce Williams.
The
Southside Youth Rally will be March 18 – 20. The speaker will be
Josh Cleveland, youth minister for the Woodbury, MN church. Josh is the
son of Gary Cleveland who preaches for the Oakhaven Church in Oshkosh.
ATTENDANCE RECORD
Two
years ago Last year Last week Goal
Bible
classes 145 134
126 170
Morning
worship 216
222 226 250
Evening worship
70 70 no service 80
Contribution $4663.58
$4665.93 $4195.46 $4900.00
The Sick – Joe Ebberly, father of Kathy
Stankowski, is in Waukesha Memorial Hospital….Elfriede Wandsnider is
scheduled for surgery April 4th.
Praise and Palate will be Sunday evening
at 6:00 o’clock. Bring caseroles.
There will be an elders and deacons meeting at
4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Congregational Meeting – Last Sunday we
had a single morning worship followed by a sandwich lunch and then a
congregational meeting. The joint worship and the meeting went well. There
was no evening worship because of the congregational meeting.
Calendar of Events
March 12 –
Area-wide Men’s Breakfast, Southside, 8:30 a.m.
March 13 –
Elders/deacons meeting, 4:30 p.m.
March 13 –
Praise and Palate, 6:00 p.m.
March 15 –
Christian Workers’ Meeting, 9:00 a.m.
March
18-20 - Southside Youth Rally
April 15,
16 – Southside men’s retreat, Camp Matawa
April 23,
24 – W.C.Y.C. youth rally with Soul Concern at Fallhall Glen
April 29
–30 – John Clayton seminar
May 6 –
Mother/daughter banquet, 6:30 p.m.
Code of Conduct
As I
read today’s Journal Sentinel two unrelated yet similar stories
caught my attention. In one the CEO of a major corporation has been fired
because by having an affair with a female executive of the company he
violated the “code of conduct” that he had imposed on all employees. The
other story tells of the resignation of the president of the University of
Colorado growing out of allegations of sexual assaults involving college
personnel as well as some other issues. You see, the expected “code of
conduct” had been violated.
In
order to function properly society requires written codes of conduct. We
call them “laws.” But beyond these ordinances, society is also governed by
unwritten community values called “mores.” These values are the glue that
holds society together, even though not all people choose to live by them.
As external forces such as television impose themselves on us, these norms
change and as they do, the cohesion of society is threatened. For example,
fifty years ago the idea of men and women living together outside of
marriage was unthinkable. Today the practice hardly raises an eyebrow.
The
CEO who lost his job was not ousted because he had an affair, but because
she was a fellow employee and his actions “would cause embarrassment to the
company.” The corporation’s code of conduct was strictly pragmatic and
really had nothing to do with ethics. Have you ever noted that a politician
who gets caught in a scandal always says, “I made a mistake of judgment”?
He violated the political code that says, “Don’t get caught.” Did you ever
hear one confess that he had “sinned.”?
Those who are devoted to Christ seek to live by the “code of conduct” that
Jesus has given us. Unlike the written and unwritten rules of corporations
and politicians, or even the mores of society, this “code of conduct” is
based on principle rather than pragmatism. We seek to do
right, not because it is the expedient thing to do, but because we are
following the ethical teachings of Jesus. To pursue this course will
sometimes result in the loss of a job or the estrangement of friends. In
human weakness we all fall short at times, but let us never lose our
dedication to the ideal that our actions are determined by what is right
rather than what is practical. The blessing is that of a good
conscience. __Monroe Hawley
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