Southside Oracle Archive

 Vol. 48, No. 28                          SOUTHSIDE ORACLE                 September 23, 2005

The Bulletin Board

Wedding Bells - J. R. Frost and Katherine Kornawski will be married Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at St. Vincent Pallotti Church, 201 N. 76^th Street. We wish them God's blessings as they begin their lives together.

Midwest Preachers' Retreat - The 42^nd annual retreat at Fallhall Glen will be Monday through Wednesday, September 26-28. Several from Southside will be attending. Dr. Frank Wheeler of York College will be the featured speaker, dealing with the Gospel of John. The retreat is open to anyone who can profit from it.

Attention Men! A new class for men is now being offered in the fellowship room during the Sunday morning class period. It is designed to build up Christian men in a positive way to be -men of commitment, integrity, and action. Entitled "Promises to be Godly Men," it deals with haw God uses us in His service, and how Christian men can develop true leadership characteristics. You are urged to consider attending this class to help you develop into the image of Jesus.

ATTENDANCE RECORD

(*) first service, 139; second service, 97

No Oracle will be published next week.

Address Changes - Exequiel and Juanita Hernandez, contact us for details.

Mark your calendar for our annual Family Bible Day on Saturday, October 1st. This is a program geared to the children, but profitable for everyone. Danny Giombi will direct the program.

Off to College - Following is a list of our college students according to our best information: York College, Christina Anguiano, John Anguiano, Bethany Stanger, Tim Williams; Freed-Hardeman University, Andrea Eufinger; Harding University, Meagan Van Handel; University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Chris Wagner, Karen Wagner, Alex Hanyard, Joe Roerkohl; University of Wisconsin - Madison, Tarah Jensen; Concordia University, Armondo Valdez, Zach Jensen; Abilene Christian University, Holly Shilts; University of Arkansas, Jose Valdez; Alverno College, Katie Williams.

Our annual Give-Away will be Saturday, October 15th. It operates like a rummage sale, except that everything is given away, not sold. It is open to everybody, but we try to make it available for special needy groups. All items to be given away are donated. Because of the Family Bible Day on October 1st we request that you defer bringing donated items until after that date.

Non-Theistic Religion

These were the words she used. She had called to inquire about the teachings and practices of our congregation. It had quickly become apparent that we were not the type of church that she was looking for; we hold that the Bible is authoritative, we believe that salvation from sin is essential to our eternal souls, and we believe in the lordship of Jesus, just to name a few of the points on which she disagreed with us. After more discussion she admitted that she didn't even believe in God. I finally asked her what she was hoping to find when she called me. Her response caught me off guard: she was looking for a group that practiced non-theistic religion.

Non-theistic religion. A religion without God. I guess what really surprised me was that her confession was so straight-forward. There are many people who practice non-theistic religion, but most of them have never admitted it to themselves, must less another person.

Non-theistic religion is the essence of humanism. It draws those people who admire the quality of life that Jesus lived and preached, but who are not willing to recognize his deity. It appeals to those whose motto is the second greatest commandment, "Love your neighbor," and yet ignore the greatest commandment, "Love the Lord your God." Man is their god and treating each other well is their only rule of law.

As I hung up the phone I felt a great sorrow for the woman on the other end of the line. How shallow a life she is living! How empty! Never has she known the: freedom that comes with slavery to Christ. Never has she felt the blessing of having one higher than herself to acknowledge as master. She may one day find, the group 'that she is looking for. I pray that one day she finds the One that she needs.

Glenn Hawley

Calendar of Events

September 18 - 23 - Gospel meeting, Midtown Church, Racine, 7:30 p.m.

September 23 - 25 -Hampton Avenue Men's Retreat, Wisconsin Dells

September 26-28 – 42nd Annual Midwest Preachers' Retreat, Fallhall Glen

October 1-Family Bible Day, Southside

October 7 - 9 - Singles and Young Couples Retreat, Fallhall Glen

October 9 - Elders/deacons meeting, 4:30 p.m:

October 4 - Praise and Palate, 6:00 p.m.

October 13-15 - "Christianity or Islam," Reuther High School, Kenosha, 8:00 p.m.

October 14-15 -Unity Family Retreat, Camp Y-Koda, Community Church, Sheboygan

October 15 - Annual Southside Give-Away

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