Southeast Church of Christ

Sunday Morning Assembly Schedule

Lanny Partain — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:15:00 +0000

The Southeast elders are considering options for reorganizing our Sunday morning schedule. At present we have two worship services with Bible classes during each worship service and with a 30 minute fellowship period between the two services.

Some desired objectives include:

Reduce the high demand for human resources in the children’s program
Improve Bible class attendance through improved scheduling, more variety in classes, and less need for home-builders having to work in the children’s program
Shorten the time between worship service and classes by modifying the fellowship period
Create an opportunity for a slightly longer worship period to allow inclusion of community building activities during the assembly

Some possibilities that have been mentioned include:

Go to a single worship service with a single Bible study period following.
Return to a worship – Bible study – worship format similar to what we used prior to the move to this facility
Keep our present schedule with some modification to address the objectives above

Some limiting factors include:

Size of the worship center
Number of classrooms
Number of parking spaces
Suitable time slots on Sunday morning

All members are invited to comment through this blog to express your thoughts on any and all of these issues. Your suggestions, questions, and concerns are welcome.

Even if you have commented to the elders or staff, by responding here all who care to can see your response.

We know that not everyone will be happy with whatever we do or don’t do, but we also believe that the more people who give us their honest counsel, the better the outcome will be.

Destiny

Lanny Partain — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 23:16:00 +0000

Sign seen in the hall at Memorial Hermann Hospital:

Watch your thoughts

Because they become your words

Watch your words

Because they become your actions

Watch your actions

Because they become your habits

Watch your habits

Because they become your character

Watch your character

Because it becomes your destiny

Not Made With Hands

Lanny Partain — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:34:00 +0000

Moses built the tabernacle and God made His abode above the Mercy Seat. Solomon built the temple and God moved with the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies. This Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians about 586 B.C. The Ark of the Covenant, along with the Mercy Seat, was lost forever. Not even Indiana Jones could find and restore it.

The temple was rebuilt seventy years later by Zerubbabel and the returning exiles. It was renovated by Herod beginning in about 20 B.C. and was demolished by the Romans in 70 A.D. But God had already left the building.

In John 2:19, Jesus said "destroy this temple and in 3 days I will rebuild it." The Jews said "Herod's been working on this temple for 46 years and you think you can rebuild it in 3 days?"

The Greek word Jesus used for temple was "naos" which refers, not to the temple complex but to the inner sanctuary, the place where God had once made his dwelling. It is the same word Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 6:19 where he explains that the holy place today is not a temple made with hands but that our body is the temple (naos) of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was telling them and us that He was in the process of ushering in a new order, that God was getting ready to change His address again.

In John 4, Jesus told the Samaritan woman that the time was coming and now was that worship would not be identified with Jerusalem nor Mount Gerizim nor North Main Street, but that worship would occur in spirit and in truth.

Our beautiful bricks and stones are neither the temple nor the dwelling place of God. The only possible justification for owning them is to wear them out in service to "the least of these."

As hard as you might try, you can't "go to church" because you are the church.

To ascribe to our building any significance beyond a convenient place to assemble and to serve people is to miss the new order Jesus ushered in when He rebuilt the dwelling place of God with His resurrection.

Prayer For 9/11

Lanny Partain — Sun, 27 May 2007 18:41:00 +0000

The following was written by Albert C. Bayer, father of Southeast's Al Bayer, shortly after September 11, 2001.

Oh, Father, we mourn for all mankind,

that life should end before it's time,

but especially those so young and bold

for their full life story is yet untold.

Many were apt and on the road to fame,

showing to the world it was their aim,

but alas, their souls now cry from graves of rubble

as they ask us, "why?"

Because we were old and wisdom prone,

pray forgive us, Lord, we should have known.

Now one hundred ten layers of sand, steel and stone,

an emblazoned hell of blood, flesh and bone.

Many dreams, love and memories now buried in sand,

pray, Lord, give them courage their new future to plan.

Past dreams now shrouded in smoke, dust and fumes,

toxic from the firing of those many tombs.

Pray comfort for the loss of spouse, parent and friend

only help from on high can change or amend.

Pray let much honor be on those that lost life

while saving others in the midst of that strife.

With only minutes to live some strove to change,

though death came quickly it was not in vain,

for a nation as one arose flags unfurled,

showing strength and purpose to all the world.

Still shocked and frightened, our tempers flare.

As we search for the enemy, though we know not where.

Pray help us to be brave, sure, wise and strong,

as we engage such a group where no honor belongs.

Lord, we seek not to avenge but deliverance from same;

knowing vengeance belongs to only Your name.

Let sound judgment and purpose direct those that go forth

with your blessing and strength abiding their course.

Obeying the Gospel

Lanny Partain — Sat, 26 May 2007 15:24:00 +0000

In a recent sermon, Michael encouraged us as Christians to:

Walk in the Way
Lay down our lives
Make friends
Speak boldly and openly
Share our strength
Bear one another’s burdens

And to do it with joy!

How is that obeying the gospel, and is it too hard to do?

The Gospel

Lanny Partain — Mon, 21 May 2007 15:24:00 +0000

Thought for the day from John Wesley:

"Do all the good you can, with all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

Jesus reduced the purpose of life down to two commands: love God and love your neighbor. Then he refined it by adding "as I have loved you."

What does this look like in your life?

Christ Formed

Lanny Partain — Fri, 18 May 2007 14:16:00 +0000

In a recent sermon, Michael made a reference to Galatians 4:19 "My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you."

What are your thoughts as to what changes occur in your life as Christ continues to be formed in you? Do you see those changes happening in yourself?

How to Get Through a Bad Day

Lanny Partain — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:44:00 +0000

Leroy Garrett is nearing his 90th birthday. He has been a fresh breeze and a voice of reason for many years. He is in the process of moving, with his beloved wife, into an assisted living arrangement in North Texas. In the midst of this he writes:

How to get through a bad day

We all have them, don’t we? And some poor souls -- such as those shut-up in nursing homes or incarcerated or incurably ill -- seem to have nothing but bad days. This time I am not writing to them as much as to us average folk who have only occasional bad days.

That may serve as the first rule in surviving bad days -- to realize that most days are reasonably good days, and that a bad day soon gives way to a good one. And if we are grateful for the good days, and use them to store up reserves for the not-so-good days we are better prepared when dark clouds loom.

Gratitude is in fact an important part of the answer -- gratitude for the good and bad days alike. We would not know the joy of gorgeous weather if it were not for rainy and stormy weather, and except for problems -- sometimes painful ones -- we would not know the glory of success In Philippians Paul speaks of his imprisonment as having “fallen out for the furtherance of the gospel.” His bad days even emboldened his brethren to speak boldly for the faith.

And so the apostle rejoiced in his suffering -- for God can do things in suffering that can be done in no other way. As disciples of Christ we believe that buried deep in every adversity is seed for good that God will bring to fruition. We are ready for the rude shock of life’s shattering blows., for we understand that this is how God fashions the soul. The back of the tapestry is in disarray with dangling threads -- a fitting metaphor for bad days -- while the front side reveals the skillful plotting of the weaver.

An anonymous poem reflects this view of life’s walk:
I walked a mile with pleasure;
She chattered all the way.
But not a thing I learned
When pleasure walked with me.
I walked a mile with sorrow;
And nary a word she said;
But oh the things I learned
When sorrow walked with me.

This does not mean that God brings on the suffering, but it does mean that God uses it as the refiner’s fire to burn out the dross and preserve the gold. Hard days can be the flail that separates the chaff from the grain. Adversity is the workshop in which God beats out the character essential for salvation. It is one of the mysteries of the wise providence of God that he shapes the soul through the sharp tool of affliction.
But David said better than I and far more succinctly:
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word. (Psalm 119:67)

The Stone Face by B Shelburne

Lanny Partain — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 15:51:00 +0000

He was walking ahead of the disciples. This says a lot about Jesus. Their destination was Jerusalem and the cross. Some of God's commands are a joy but some are extremely hard. In his place I would hang back, finding all kinds of loose ends to deal with first. But Jesus knew that if you give the flesh an inch it will take a mile. Our souls depended on his being faithful. So, as Luke records, "Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem" Literally, in the Greek, "He set his face like a flint stone toward Jerusalem."

Reading between the lines of Hebrews, you can eavesdrop on a conversation between Christ and his Father. God: "The humans I created have fallen into sin. Justice says they deserve destruction, but I love them and want to save them." Christ: "The animal lives they offer on the altar cannot really redeem human souls and satisfy your justice." God: I have prepared a human body for you. Will you go to earth and be the redeeming sacrifice?" Christ: "Yes, Father, I will go and do your will."

Jesus never lost sight of his Father's will. At age 12 it was on his mind. During his desert temptation and throughout his ministry, he would not let himself be sidetracked. "I have not come to do my will but the will of him who sent me." But being human as well as divine, he struggled. "He learned obedience from what he suffered." All his obedience in lesser matters prepared him for the ultimate obedience.

Jesus arrived at Jerusalem five days before his death. Always before, the cross had been somewhere in the future. Now he was in its shadow. Then it was the night before. He ate the last supper with the disciples he loved. He retreated to Gethsemane. His humanity cried, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup of suffering pass from me! But if I must drink it, your will be done, not mine." He walked out to meet his betrayer and on to the cross. With his last breath he cried, "It is finished." He had been faithful. What an example he has set for us!

Who’s Really in the Dark?

Lanny Partain — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 02:32:00 +0000

The following was written by Dwight Whitsett, Lubbock, TX:

Look at a nighttime satellite view of the Korean Peninsula and you are immediately struck by the fact that North Korea lies in darkness while South Korea is twinkling with millions of lights. But, I wonder. Who’s really in the dark?

That was what kept creeping into my cranium as I watched Diane Sawyer’s report on Korea. A place she calls a “sealed universe” and a “Hermit Kingdom.” As her team entered the country, their cell phones and Blackberries were confiscated. Use of cell phones and the world-wide web is illegal as is listening to radio broadcasts from outside the country. “…just one of the ways they keep their closed society ‘closed’," said Sawyer. They know absolutely nothing about our world. I wonder what they would think if they did?

What would they think of a society with a “youth culture” that ridicules the elderly and idolizes the likes of bare Brittany Spears? What would they think about all of us overweight, undisciplined people and the way we constantly pursue pleasure and comfort (there are no obese Koreans in Pyongyang)? What would they think about our drug and sex saturated way of life? What would they think of our obscenity-spouting comedians? What would they think about the way we are pulling away from any kind of moral anchor? What would they think about the fact that light has come into our world but it is a world where people love the darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil”? (John 3:19).

I absorbed Sawyer’s report with tangled feelings of sorrow for the darkness of North Korea and shame for the darkness of Western culture. When and if the doors of North Korea crack open, I hope light overwhelms the darkness. I don’t know when that will happen but, while we wait, why don’t we do something about the darkness that surrounds us?

The darkness of North Korea and Western culture is the kind that no electric current can illuminate. It is a darkness only the light of Christ can dispel. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).Then, the people who are sitting in darkness can see a great light and those who sit in the land and shadow of death can have the light of Christ dawn on them (Matthew 4:16).

An opaque gloom hovers over our world. It is a gloom only those who claim to follow Him who is the light-bringer can dispel. God has given this job into the hands of those who were formerly darkness but now conduct themselves as children of light (Matthew 5:14-16; Ephesians 5:8; Philippians 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:5). What will the North Koreans see when God throws open their doors and windows? Will they detect any glimmers of true, pure light? Well, brothers and sisters, God has left that up to us.

It is time to cast off anything that hinders and let our light shine through the salt of our loving proclamation of the gospel and the light of our good deeds. Dwellers of the night are looking for the glow of dawn.

The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light. ~Felix Adler

100 People

Lanny Partain — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 16:53:00 +0000

I recently received this through email so I don't know how accurate it is, but if it is even close (and I expect it is) it certainly helps put things in their proper perspective.

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:

There would be:
57 Asians ~ 21 Europeans ~ 14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south ~ 8 Africans
52 would be female ~~ 48 would be male
70 would be non-white ~~ 30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian ~~ 30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual ~~ 11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the USA.
80 would live in sub-standard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death ~~ 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only one) would have a college education

What in this list grabs you?

I find it very discouraging that only 3 in 10 people in the world can communicate through the written page. It was this lack of the most basic education that empowered the dark ages in history and that empowers the dictators and oligarchies of today.

I also wonder how the world would be changed if the 30% that identify ourselves as christian were to speak with one common voice instead of through the hundreds of fractured factions that make up our community.

Psalm 23

Lanny Partain — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 20:01:00 +0000

The following is a unique view of the 23rd Psalm. I don't know who originated these thoughts, but I would like to share it with you in hope that your heart will be encouraged.

"The Lord is my shepherd" ... that's Relationship! "I have everything I need" ... that's Supply! "He lets me rest in green meadows" ... that's Rest! "He leads me beside peaceful streams" ... that's Refreshment! "He renews my strength" ... that's Healing! "He guides me along right paths" ... that's Guidance! "Bringing honor to His name" ... that's Purpose! "Even when I walk through the dark valley of death" ... that's Testing! "I will not be afraid" ... that's Protection! "For You are close beside me" ... that's Faithfulness! "Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me" ... that's Discipline! "You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies" ... that's Hope! "You welcome me as a guest, anointing my head with oil" ... that's Consecration! "My cup overflows with blessings" ... that's Abundance! "Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life" ... that's Blessing! "And I will live in the house of the Lord" ... that's Security! "Forever" ... that's Eternity!

Face it, the Lord is crazy about YOU!!

Excerps from "The Missional Church" by Al Maxey

Lanny Partain — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 04:40:00 +0000

I am convinced that one of the greatest failings of the modern church (and, indeed, the church throughout the ages, for the most part) is that we have largely lost touch with who and what Jesus has called and commissioned us to be. We frequently speak of "going to the church," "having a meeting down at the church," "inviting people to our church," and a thousand and one other such expressions, all of which chronicle our tendency to embrace an institutional, corporate model. We -- the church -- are neither!

The church our Lord established is not an institution, it is an organism; it is not a place, it is a people; it is not about programs, it is about purpose.

One of the primary challenges to the church today is relevancy. Are we impacting the world in which we live? Are we making a difference in the lives of those about us? Do we matter?! Or, are we an anachronism?!

So, what do we do?! We must awaken within the breast of each disciple of Jesus Christ a sense of purpose; an awareness of their own individual responsibility to be part of a community of believers with spiritual focus. Each Christian must come to a life-altering comprehension of their reason for being, and then act upon it. Individually and collectively we must recapture that missional vision. Which is?! Glad you asked! I like the way Bro. Fred Peatross, a friend and fellow author, stated it in one of his recent articles in his Abductive Columns --- he wrote, "Missional incarnation means trading church time for time in the water with the fish." That just about says it all.

When the church finally gets out of the building and begins becoming part of the daily lives of the people who live all around them, the church will then become truly relevant. A missional church is a body of believers who daily share Jesus, through all aspects of their lives, with their neighbors.

Kingdom Business vs. Church Business

Lanny Partain — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 21:00:00 +0000

Howard Snyder: Liberating the Church

"If you're unfamiliar with the language of the Kingdom of God, think of it as God's present activity in the world, carefully restoring it to health and wholeness through his gracious love.
The church gets in trouble whenever it thinks it’s in the church business rather than the Kingdom business. In the church business people are concerned with church activities, religious behavior and spiritual things. In the Kingdom business people are concerned with Kingdom activities, all human behavior and everything God has made, visible and invisible. Kingdom people see human affairs as saturated with spiritual meaning and Kingdom significance.

"Kingdom people seek first the Kingdom of God and its justice; church people often put church work above concerns of justice, mercy and truth. Church people often think about how to get people into church; Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church; Kingdom people work to see the church change the world.

"When Christians put the church ahead of the Kingdom they settle for the status quo and their own kind of people. When they catch a vision of the Kingdom of God their sights shift to the poor, the orphan, the widow, the refugee 'the wretched of the earth' and to God's future. They see the life and work of the church from the perspective of the Kingdom.

"If the church has one great need it is this: to be set free for the Kingdom of God, to be liberated from itself as it has become in order to be itself as God intends."

April Fool

Lanny Partain — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 00:15:00 +0000

April 1----Fool's Day. That surely is us.....fools for Christ! The world surely would regard us so.

That we are, if Christ was not ruling on a throne, having conquered death by his resurrection.
That we are, if there is no citizenship in heaven and no waiting home of the soul.
That we are, if there is nothing more important than what this world offers in promotions, possessions and positions.

I guess we have a choice of being fools before men or watching fools in judgment who said or lived as though there was no God. A better choice would be devoting our lives to keeping people from becoming fools both in life and in death.

Truman Scott

Who Started Christmas

Lanny Partain — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 22:08:00 +0000

This morning I heard a story on the radio of a woman who was out Christmas shopping with her two children.

After many hours of looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable; and after hours of hearing both her children asking for everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids.

She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season time of the year. Overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming, taste all the holiday food and treats, getting that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list, making sure we don't forget anyone on our card list, and the pressure of making sure we respond to everyone who sent us a card.

Finally the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the car. She pushed her way into the car and dragged her two kids in with her and all the bags of stuff. When the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up and shot."

From the back of the car everyone heard a quiet calm voice respond, "Don't worry we already crucified him." For the rest of the trip down the elevator it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Don't forget this year to keep the One who started this whole Christmas thing in your every thought, deed, purchase, and word. If we all did it, just think of how different this whole world would be.

Merry Christmas to all, I wish the blessing of this season upon you and your house.

Thomas Bunkley

Here come the holidays

Lanny Partain — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 16:35:00 +0000

In a recent comment, someone requested that we add a "yellow pages" type section to our members section on the web. This has been approved by the elders and we are in the process of setting it up so members who provide services can voluntarily submit their information.

We are coming into the holiday season. We invite you to share your thankfulness, thoughts, and plans for this special time of the year.

As always, we welcome your comments on how we can improve the usefulness of the web site as well as all other aspects of the family experience at Southeast.

Rita

Lanny Partain — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 18:01:00 +0000

We have been visited by the wrath of Rita and, for the most part, have been spared the devastation experienced by our neighbors east of us.

Do you have any experiences you would like to share? If so, click on "comment" and let us hear from you.

Katrina

Lanny Partain — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 18:34:00 +0000

We have all gone through many emotions the past week as we watch the events unfold along the Gulf Coast and as we see the wave of evacuees pour into Houston and the surrounding states.

Perhaps you would like to share some of your thoughts with our church family. Maybe you have ideas you would like to express. Maybe you just want to pour out some of your frustrations or hopes.

Please feel free to click on "comments" and let us know what is on your mind.

The List

Lanny Partain — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 18:34:00 +0000

Last Sunday Michael gave us a 15 point list from Romans 12:9-21 of some of the things that God has in mind for our lives. http://www.secoc.org/sermons_pdf/082105_life%20that%20god%20has%20in%20mind.pdf

Are there any of them that speak loudly to you? Would you care to tell us which ones and why?

Breaking Boundries

Lanny Partain — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 01:53:00 +0000

This morning Michael has challenged us with examining the boundries in our life.

What experiences / thoughts do you have with boundry breaking in your life?

What boundries do you see still existing in our church family?

Two Questions

Lanny Partain — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 16:08:00 +0000

Sunday, July 31, Michael challenged us with two questions: Is heritage important and How far would you go for love?

What are your thoughts and experiences relative to those questions?

Welcome

Lanny Partain — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 03:25:00 +0000

The purpose of this blog is to see if there is interest in having a forum that members of the Southeast Church of Christ will use to express ideas and encouragement among our Christian family.

Let's get started

Lanny Partain — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 17:08:00 +0000

OK, so we now have a blog. How cool is this? So what is on your heart?

Maybe something happened during services or at home or work that blessed you and you would like to share.
Maybe Michael said something in his sermon or a teacher said something that you would like to discuss.
Maybe you would like to get some feedback concerning an idea for a ministry you have been thinking about.

Any subject is fair game. We just ask that everyone keep it positive. We have no interest in creating a gripe forum.

So go ahead, click on "comment", register, and let's get started and have some fun.