Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins

The Passing of Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" Some day we are going to wake up and discover just how valuable “they” have been, and the impact “they” had on our lives and the whole nation. But by then, they will all be gone! Recent months and years have seen the passing of almost an entire generation of people. Of course, that is the way life is, and we are not surprised at the passing of generations, but there is something unique about this one. This generation—my parents and their peers—exhibited qualities and had experiences that will not likely be seen or repeated again. Those qualities, as they vanish from our presence, will be missed by all of us, even if we don’t have the good sense to realize it. This is a generation that saw a Great Depression blossom in their youth, only to see it end in a tragic World War! This generation survived the threat of ravaging diseases, nuclear holocaust, and financial doom. They saw the development of great scientific advances in transportation, communication, medicine and, unfortunately, warfare and oppression. They heard promises of a “chicken in every pot” and a “Great Society” only to discover the emptiness of too many of those promises. They saw man bring suffering upon himself by crime, alcohol, violence, and ethical weakness. They saw a world turn from God to gold, to pleasure, and to self-destruction. Oh yes, they made their mistakes, but they learned from them. And they worked! My generation may never know what downright hard work really is! Not like they worked (cotton fields, coal mines, foundries, railroad yards, factories, and farms). The “work ethic” of that generation lived because of necessity, determination, survival, and character, and the result was a land of bountiful production. Sociologists are even now discovering and writing about the value of a similar attitude and work ethic in our own time. What will it be like without “them”? Will their character and worthy attitudes survive in their children or their grandchildren? Or will a “me-first” generation arise, demanding more privileges and rights, though offering less and less in exchange? Unfortunately, the present signs do not look promising. What will be the consequences upon the Lord’s church in their passing? They usually were self-taught, or they learned God’s Word at the feet of self-taught preachers. They studied “The Book” for themselves, and then abandoned religious error because of that study. They taught their families, their friends, and their neighbors the same truth they had learned. They taught their Bible classes after having plowed in the fields, mended fences, or having washed and ironed loads of clothes. (Many did all of this, I might add, without the benefit of most of our modern machines and appliances.) They warned against the danger of “drifting” back to the world, and they resolved not to allow worldliness and weakness to take the church into apostasy. As elders, they pastored the flock, and as deacons, they served. As mothers and wives, they lovingly cared for their families, often in the shadow of hardship and a poverty that would have destroyed many in my generation. They wanted to be God’s people and were willing to do God’s will in God’s way. We cannot afford to lose sight of that attitude and their influence! We had better hope, work, and pray that these qualities do not die with their generation! The church, both individually and collectively, needs those qualities now as much as ever: hard work, courage, humility, endurance, selflessness, study, vigilance, dedication, persistence, generosity, service and industry. With those traits we can overcome Satan’s opposition. Without them, we are not the Lord’s people. To say “thanks” to a generation of people is not nearly enough! And yet, we owe them at least that much. We offer our deepest appreciation to each one of you—for surviving and for teaching us how to survive and to overcome. For those who have passed on, and to those who are still with us, we express our heart-felt gratitude, and we promise that your accomplishments will not soon be forgotten. The family, nation, home, even the generations of man, have always been important in God’s scheme of things. “For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children,” Psalm 78:5-6. May it not be said of us that we forgot our forebears; that we did not “make known to [our] children” the manifold wisdom of Jehovah. That would be the ultimate act of neglect and ingratitude. Carl Garne Editor’s Note: Some of these thoughts are part of material written in 1990. Please read them again while considering the contribution of the generation that includes your parents (or grandparents) and mine.

Every Little Bit Counts In a gun factory, a great bar of steel weighing five hundred pounds and eight feet in length was suspended vertically by a very delicate chain. Nearby, a common bottle cork was suspended by a silk thread.  The purpose was to show that the cork would get the steel bar in motion. It seemed impossible. The cork was swinging gently against the steel bar, and the steel bar remained motionless. But it was done again and again, for ten minutes, and lo, at the end of that time, the bar gave evidence of feeling uncomfortable; a sort of nervous chill ran over it. Ten minutes later, the chill was followed by a vibration. At the end of half an hour, the great bar was swinging like the pendulum of a clock. And yet there are people who dare assert that they have no influence in the world. The regular and consistent Christian living on the part of a husband or wife will make the difference between heaven and hell with their mates. Never underestimate the power of influence. Author Not Known

Why the Variance Between Sunday Mornings and Sunday Nights? We have now brought up the permanent problem in the congregations. We’ve known only two or three congregations, usually quite small and rural, that had virtually no change in the attendance figures between Sunday morning and Sunday evening. And, we certainly cannot point to the visitors on Sunday morning only as the reason for the variance, for it is clear that it’s our own members who are the absentees. When we ask, “Why?”, there are many answers given, and perhaps all of them play some part in the whole picture. If one could find the cure and implement it, he would have done something far greater than building a better mousetrap, and elders and preachers would indeed beat a path to his door! Naturally, in thinking of the cause of it all, when men say, “lack of conversion…lack of love…lack of dedication…etc.,” it is all true. But look at it also from a practical view—and the matter of priority. There is the conviction that worship must be done on the Lord ’s Day. On Sunday morning, no demands are upon us. Television offers very little, and thus worship is before us. But when Sunday evening comes, there have already been abundant opportunities for involvement in other things, and one must choose worship above all else, purposely pushing other things aside so that he then will be in attendance on Sunday evenings. To be sure, Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings call for more direct arranging of priorities. That explains the variance, at least in part: PRIORITIES. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says it best: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…” Bill Jackson(deseased)