In the 1920s, someone bet Ernest Hemingway ten dollars that he couldn't write a complete story in just six words. Hemingway came back with:

"For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."

He won the bet.

Recently Smith Magazine (smithmag.net) asked readers to sum up their own lives in just six words.

The results are now a book called Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.

Here are some interesting entries:

Head in books, feet in flowers. (Heather Thomson)

Trust me, I did my best. (Ray Kemp)

Married childhood sweetheart. Two kids. Content. (Steve McMullen)

Partner, pension, motorhome, life is good. (Bob Lindblom)

Wasted my whole life getting comfortable. (Richard Merrington)

Worry about tomorrow, rarely enjoy today! (Richard Rabone)

Four Weddings, Three kids, then cancer. (Gillian Johnson)

Not quite finished, tell you later. (Dave Nicholson)

Following this same idea, Jesus might have summarized his life this way:
"To seek and save the lost." [Luke 19:10] or ...

Paul might have summarized his life:
"Tough fight, long race, won both." [2 Timothy 4:7]

Peter might have said:
"Took chances, failed often, experienced power.&quo9t; [Matthew 14:29; Mark 14:71; Acts 5:15]

King David might have said:
"The Lord is all I need." [Psalm 23:1]

The question is: How would you summarize your life?

I would have to say, "God is good, all the time!"


Blessings,
Pastor Garry

Have you read your Bible lately? The Bible outsells all other books, yet, I'm afraid that many Bibles are gathering dist on book shelves or coffee tables.

Take a minute to read what our founding fathers said concerning the Bible, then decide if today we feel the same about this great book God has given to us.

1. In a review of nearly 15,000 items written by our founding fathers, the Bible was the most quoted of any source material.
2. George Washington and successive U.S. Presidents have been sworn into office placing their hands on the very book that is now unwelcome in many public schools.
3. The Bible is worth more than all other books which have ever been printed. (Patrick Henry)
4. The Bible is the best book in the world. (John Adams)
5. If the Bible is just a book, it should not be uniquely excluded.
6. If the Bible is more than just a book, it is to our folly to exclude it.
7. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. (The Bill of Rights)
8. A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education. (Theodore Roosevelt)
9. We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the republic. (Franklin Roosevelt)
10. I believe the Bible is the best gift God has given to man. (Abraham Lincoln)

How about reading the Bible again. It's an important book.

Pastor Garry

Scripture: Eph 4:31-32
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Augustine reportedly had a sign on his wall that read, "He who speaks evil of an absent man or woman is not welcome at this table." That would have ended a lot of conversations, wouldn't it?

The Bible tells us to "get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior" (Ephesians 4:31).

Slander speaks of saying evil things about others behind their backs.

Bitterness, which is an embittered and resentful spirit that refuses to be reconciled, makes the Holy Spirit sad and sorrowful. Yet some people like to be mad. They live for conflict. They live for arguments. They live for fighting. They seem to actually like it.

Then there are the people who avoid conflicts, and I will admit that I am one of them. I don't like conflict. I dread it in fact. But some people are just looking for something to fight about, and they seem to go from conflict to conflict. You probably know people like this. They are always mad at someone. They always have their nemesis, the one person who is the source of all their misery, and they are always talking about him or her. And they often are very critical, constantly nitpicking and trying to uncover things in other people's lives.

Yet I have made an interesting discovery: the person who has been covering up sin in his or her life typically is always trying to uncover sin in the lives of others. It never surprises me when I find that the most critical people are guilty of something far worse themselves.

So don't live that way. It grieves the Holy Spirit. If you let bitterness go unchecked, it could lead you to take the next step—and to something even worse.

Let us be like Augustine and not speak evil of any person in their absence.

Pastor Garry

Goodness sakes! It's cold in Kentucky. But maybe it will kill the bugs and flies.

In the summer when the temperature is in the 90's and the humidity is high, we can hardly believe it will ever get this cold again, but it does. And it did last year, and Winter arrives every year about the same time. Isn't it amazing how we can count on God to make sure the sun shines during the day and the stars twinkle at night? That Summer and Winter and Spring and Fall arrive on time every year.

God has proven Himself to be a God of organization. You don't find chaos where God is in control.

Sometimes when we try to fix things, we end up in chaos.

Can you imagine us trying to fix the environment? How is it that we think we can do anything about climate change?

Now I believe we are to take care of God's earth, but to think we are big enough to destroy it is a little absurd.

The Apostle Peter tells us that the earth will one day be destroyed all right. But it happens when God is through with us living on it. Once we get out of here, and rise to meet the Lord in the air, the earth will melt with fervent heat and all that is in it will be burned up.

But I don't plan to be here. I'm going up to be with Jesus when He comes again. I hope all of you will be going up too.

You sure don't want to miss heaven. The only other place to go to is hell. From what I've read about it, it isn't cold there.

Christmas reminds us that God is involved in human history, that because of his love for us he sent his Son into the world to save us. And just like the world waited in expectation of his arrival on that starry night in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago, today we wait in expectation of his arrival.

Before Jesus was born, an angel of the Lord appeared before Joseph and said... "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"?which means, "God with us." (Matthew 1:20-22)

Mary, the mother of Jesus exemplifies what it means to live a life of faith. She was a young girl, a teenager, maybe 15, engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, when an angel of the Lord appeared before one day and said,

(v. 28) "Greetings, you are who are highly favored. The Lord is with you."

The Bible says that she was troubled at his words, and she wondered what they meant. He explained to her: "You will give birth to a son. His name will be Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High."

Mary asked, "How is this possible? I am a virgin." The angel said...

(v. 35) "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

Mary's response was...

(v. 38) "I am the Lord's servant...May it be to me as you have said."

I believe that Mary could have refused this role in her life, but she didn’t. She welcomed it. Then she went to see her cousin, Elizabeth who was also expecting a baby.

(v. 39-45) At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!
But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Mary exemplifies the life of faith and the life of obedience, and she was blessed by God because, as Elizabeth said, she believed that what the Lord said to her will be accomplished.

Mary is, without a doubt, the most revered and the most admired woman in all of history. We don't worship Mary and we don't pray to Mary, but we can and we must appreciate the value of the contribution she made to the story of our salvation.

God chose this woman, this teenage girl, to bring his Son into the world, to care for him, to nurture him, to teach him how to walk and talk and read and pray and obey, and to stay with him until the very end.

Just like we learn about the life of faith from Abraham and David and Peter and Paul, we can learn about how to live a life of faith from the example of this young girl, Mary. Elizabeth said to her, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished."

Mary had great faith. She kept believing even when others didn’t believe in her. She knew that she would have to sacrifice her reputation, that she would be the subject of gossip, maybe even be rejected by her own family. She said, "Even if these things happen, I will stay faithful to the God who has chosen me." She said, "If I have to sacrifice my reputation in order to be used by God, so be it. I put my trust in him."

Mary continued to believe God when the road was rough. She gave birth to her child, not in a comfortable home, surrounded by a loving family, but alone, in a stable, surrounded by farm animals.

After Jesus had been born, and the angels had announced his birth and the shepherd boys had come to witness this miracle, the Bible say...

Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. (Luke 2:19 NLT)

Sometimes we thing it’s impossible for God to intervene in our lives, but it isn’t. Mary believed that all things was possible with God.

We serve a God who is not bound by human limitations. We serve a God who will intervene in human history, on our behalf, in our time of need. Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 1:3) Can you imagine Mary, riding the donkey the long distance to Bethlehem when she was ready to give birth to a child. She must have said, "I can do this. God is with me. I am favored above all women."

As we enter this Christmas season, let us realize that we are children of God. We too are highly favored. Hold on to that thought and Have a Mary Christmas! !

Scripture to consider: 1 CHRONICLES 16: 8
Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

Centuries ago William Law wrote:
"Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world? It is not he who prays most or fasts most, it is not he who lives most, but it is he who is always thankful to God, who receives everything as an instance of God's goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it."

Andre Crouch wrote a great song, "My Tribute", which begins: "How can I say 'thanks' for the things you've done for me?" This song of David in 1 Chronicles 16 suggests some ways we can say thank you to God for his goodness—things that we, in the midst of keeping busy in the work of ministry, sometimes forget to do.

• Sing Praise to Him. (v. 9) "Remind" him (and yourself) of all the wonderful things he's done in your life.
• Talk about him. (v. 24) The most compelling Christians I know are those who talk continuously about God—not about themselves, not their church, not my sin or my need for forgiveness, but about the goodness of God.
• Give something back. (v. 29) Though the idea of burnt offerings is obsolete, the idea of making offerings to God will never go out of date. Whatever we give back to him—our money, our time, our hearts, our lives—they all may seem so small, but they matter to him.

These things answer Andre's question. This is how we can say "thanks."

God gave you the gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "Thank you"?

Helen Keller was blind, but she said, "So much has been given to me, I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied."

So during this month when we are reminded to be thankful for our blessings, try giving thanks to God. For every good and perfect gift comes down from Him.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.
Pastor Garry

LUKE 11:2-4

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he didn't teach them about prayer, he taught them a prayer. It can be found in Luke 11 and in Matthew 6.

Books have been written about this simple prayer. I have preached a series of sermons on the Lord's Prayer, or as I often refer to it as the model prayer.

As a young boy, I was told those who pray the Lord's Prayer are guilty of "vain repetition." (This by a pastor who prayed the same prayers over the offering and before the invitation 52 weeks a year.)

I've learned that the more time I spend in prayer, the more I get done when I'm not praying. The problem is that too often I get in such a big hurry doing things, even good things, that I don't spend as much time in prayer as I should.

Jesus didn't teach his disciples about prayer, he taught them to pray. This is because you learn to pray by praying.

It's the same process for a child or a college professor; for a peasant or a president; for a new believer or a spiritual giant. You talk to God.

It's something anyone can do. You begin by saying the words Jesus taught us to say, and you continue by sharing your heart with God throughout the day.

Jesus taught us about prayer: you learn to pray by praying. He said...
When you pray, say: 'Our Father.' If God is our Father, that makes all of us brothers and sisters.

Hallowed be your name. His name is holy and to be reverenced.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. If God's will is done on earth, we can experience kingdom living here.

In earth as it is in heaven. I know that most translations say "on earth."

However the K.J.V. that I grew up with says "in earth." I wonder if he doesn't mean, in us, since we are made of earth. God wants His kingdom to be experienced within us, here on earth and in earth, just as kingdom living is experienced in heaven. Give us each day our daily bread. Noticed, the prayer isn't for enough for a week or a month, but for today. And it isn't for the exquisite tastes of the world, but meager bread.

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. I remember my daughter praying the Lord's Prayer as a child and she said, "Forgive us our sings like we forgive others."

After thinking about it, I decided that was pretty good theology.

And lead us not into temptation. Remember that Jesus tells us to pray lest we be tempted. But that won't do much good if you continue to go where you know you will be tempted. Deliver us from evil.

That should be our daily prayer. For sin can ruin our lives. We need the miraculous power of God to deliver us from the clutches of Satan.

Blessings,
Rev. Garry Polston

No one can make you serve customers well...that's because great service is a choice.
Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.


He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: "I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement."

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:
Wally's Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment...

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, "Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf."

My friend said jokingly, "No, I'd prefer a soft drink."

Wally smiled and said, "No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice." Almost stuttering, Harvey said, "I'll take a Diet Coke."

Handing him his drink, Wally said, "If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today."

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, " These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio."

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day.

He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts...

"Tell me, Wally," my amazed friend asked the driver, "have you always served customers like this?"

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, "Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd."

"That hit me right between the eyes," said Wally. "Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more."

"I take it that has paid off for you," Harvey said.

"It sure has," Wally replied. "My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action."

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
How about us?
Smile, and the whole world smiles with you.... The ball is in our hands! A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up... let us do good to all people.

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.

Pastor Garry

August looks like a busy month for the Garry Polston Family. We are going to Indpls. Indiana the first week-end to sing at the First Separate Baptist in Christ Church on Saturday August 1st. And the following day I will be preaching at the Homecoming service at the Fellowship in Christ Church in Beech Grove Indiana and we will be singing in the afternoon.

We also have the Community Sing at Parkland Baptist Church in Louisville Kentucky on August 8th at 7:00 p.m. This is a Gaither style singing and you are sure to enjoy the choir made up of about 100 people who really know how to sing those old gospel standards. We are led by Bill Twyman who knows how to keep a group in the right spirit and get the message of God's love across to the audience.

We're also singing in Mannsville Kentucky and Milton Kentucky this month. See our schedule for more information.

We have been invited to sing at the Kentucky State Fair this year on August 27th. In the South Wing at 7:00 P.M. There will also be two other Southern Gospel groups from Kentucky on this Southern Gospel Showcase.

But I suppose the concert we are most looking forward to this month is the Jim B. Polston Memorial Scholarship Concert in Russell Springs Kentucky at Bethlehem Separate Baptist Church on Saturday August 22. It will be at 6:00 P.M. Central time and will feature the Original Polston Family as My dear 94 year old Mother, my two brothers Larry and Jimmy and myself take the stage to sing some old favorites including Mom's signature song, $quot;Well Glory."

The Garry Polston Family will also be on the program.

Also Witness from Franklin Indiana which is made up of Mom & Dad's grandchildren will sing. My nephew Mike Wiggington sings with a great group from Nashville Tennessee called Mercy Road. Their tenor was the last tenor for the famous Statesmen Quartet with Hovie Lister. You don't want to miss this great group. We will also do a little note singing.

Since Dad died, we have sponsored one or more students to attend a Music School in Tennessee during the summer to learn to sing the do, re, mi’s. After the expenses of this concert and paying the groups, the groups will donate the remainder of the offering to helping students who otherwise would not be able to attend this school. I believe this will be a concert you will long remember, so be sure to make plans now to attend.

Until next month, blessings, and we'll see you at your next concert.

Preacherp

You may have already received this e-mail, but if you haven't, I think you will get a kick out of it. Someone by the name of Cindy wrote it and it's called: RESIGNATION.

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of a 6 year old again. I want to go to McDonalds and think it is a four-star restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle. I want to think M&M's are better than money because you can eat them. I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends.

I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables and nursery rhymes but that didn't bother you because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.

I want to think the world is fair, that everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.

I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness and loss of loved ones. I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace and dreams.

So…here's my checkbook and my car keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood. If you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me, cause "Tag, You're it!"

This may not be what Jesus meant when He said we should become like little children, but it sure sounds good to me. My prayer for each of us is that we take some time this summer to be childlike.

Cindy


Like Cindy, I've felt like that sometimes and I'm sure you have too. Jesus once said to his disciples, "Let's go to a desert place and rest for awhile." I plan to do that sometime this summer and I hope you will too.

Welcome to the month of May. I hope Winter is over, I'm ready for some warm weather. Like Lent, Winter has seemed so long this year.

As we enter the month of May we first come to Mother's Day. I am blessed to still have my dear Mother living and in good health. At the age of 94, she still lives in her own home and is able to go to church. Our family is very blessed. I wish all the wonderful Mothers a Happy Mother's Day this year.

May also brings to us Memorial Day. We will take time to remember those who gave the supreme sacrifice that we could have the freedom we have in America to worship God as we please and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Today there are many brave men and women who wear the uniform with honor and defend our freedom and fight terrorist. Pray for them and show your appreciation to them when you see them at home. Let us honor those special men and women around the world today. They are my heroes.

May 31 is Pentecost Sunday. We will celebrate the day the church was born as the Holy Spirit fell on that Upper Room and the people there were filled with the Holy Spirit. This gave them power to proclaim the risen Christ as Lord. Peter who had denied he even knew Jesus was able to boldly say, "This Jesus you crucified has risen from the dead and has become both Lord and Christ." The Bible tells us that when Peter preached that 3,000 souls were saved. Pretty good revival start, don't you think? My, how we need to once again be so filled with the Holy Spirit that we could boldly speak up for Jesus Christ. The world so desperately needs to hear the good news of the gospel. If we don't share it, who will? I say, let's begin right now to share our faith in such a winsome way that the world will gladly hear and receive.

Blessings,
Pastor Garry
gposlton@newcastleumcky.org