PASTOR"S CiORNER by Rev. Shirley Watkins
q '.i '
is. 13:20 He that walketh with wise
men shall be wise: but a companion
of fools shall be destroyed.
My mama always told me, and I always
told my children, your name is all you
really have. If you walk with bad people,
you'llbe known as a bad person. If you
stay around good people, you'll be known
as a good person.
In my life, I have found that tobe oh, so
true. People are known for the company
they keep. q-hey are called names by the
names of the company they hang
with.
God wants us to hang with the
wise, so that we will be wise. You
learn to be what you are around
the most. If you want to be a child
of God, guess what? You need to
hang around children of God. If
you want to have discernment
and wisdom, it will only come
from God. So you need to spend
a lot of your time alone with God
in prayer. We can only see His
ways as we get closer to Him. We
only get closer to Him by getting
before Him in prayer and meditation and
reading of his Word.
Draw nigh to Him and He will draw
nigh to you. That's the only way to become
like Him. People think they can be Chris-
tians (Christ-like) and never open their
Bibles or spend time in prayer. But not so!
We have to do more than a "Lay me down
to sleep" prayer. We have to spend time
with Him. Make an appointment with
Him and keep it. We use up the hours in
our days and never once spend an hour
with God. He is looking for us.
Just as God looked for Adam in the
garden, He is looking for you and me to
fellowship with Him. We have fellowships
for all kind of things except for time with
REV. SHIRLEY
WATKINS
God. We have food fellowships, singings
and other things going on, but where is
our alone time with God? When was the
last time we really sat down or knelt down
and talked to Him for more than five or
10 minutes? When was the last time you
made up your mind to stay in His pres-
ence until you heard from Him, no matter
how long it took?
Our excuses are so puny! I don't have
the time to pray. I don't know how to
pray. I can't pray long. All of these are just
excuses God doesn't even want to hear.
Maybe you can't pray long, but
you can stay in His presence and
let Him talk to you in the Spirit
or through the Word.
I am not sure about you but I
want to be a wise person. I want
to walk with the wise. The wise
are God and His people that lis-
ten to Him. Too many people are
not hearing the Word preached
any more. They hear stories, or
jokes or a small sermonette, but
not the Word. They are not told
how to be wise. They are not told
what sin is. They are not encour-
aged to stay away from the things that they
are weak in and will cause them to fail. It
is time to go back to the Word of God. It is
time to hear: "Thus saith the Lord"
Are you walking with the Wise Man? I
truly hope so. We need God to move for
us now more than ever. May God bless
you and help you to be like Jesus.
Rev. Shirley Watkins is pastor of Light-
house of Prayer, 2287 Highway 41 South,
Smart. The Pastor's Corner is sponsored by
the Monroe County Ministerial Associa-
tion, which meets on the second Thursday
of each month at 8 a.m. at Christ United
Methodist Church, 417 N. Frontage Road,
Forsyth.
at news@mymcr.net by Monday
published of charge as space
March 19-21
St. Philhp A.M.E. Church, Culloden invites
~1 everyone to worship with its Annual Family
Orange Grove Bapt st Church (H ghway 8,
74, Cuttoden) Annual Spring Revival wilt
MarcK20
Cht~t: United
994-493cL
(478)-
March 20-22
The guest speaker on March 20 will be Rev.
Jarvis Barrion St. and Brown Chapel Baptist
Church of Forsyth The guest speaker on
March 21 will be Rev. Nathan Gordon and
Mr. Airy Baptist Church of Forsyth. The guest
speaker on 22 will be Rev. Derek
Dumas and Baptist
Grou
Blatock.:
Ramah Primitive Baptist Church t274 Ramah
ChurCh Rd, Barnesville will hold its Spring
Meeting on Tuesday-Thursday, March 26L
28 beginning at 7 p.m. nightly. Elder Steve
Pierce will be preach 6g The e w t be a
covered dish supper at cb p,m. on Thursday,
March 28. Everyone s invlted. Elder Kurt
Bacon, Pastor, 770-468-4921.
March 31
Garden Hill Baptist hcmts Movie
NiCe
Garden HI I Baptist Church, 88 Vining St
Forsyth, wilt host MoVie Night On Sunday
March 31 at 5 p.m. There will fi ger
food and refreshments. 'All are inuitecl to
fellowship with members, enjoy a good
Christian based movie, "When the Game
Stands Tall," and receive a blessing of meet-
ing hke-minded believers.
at
2560 April 8-10
Smarr will host its Annual I.~
March 23
March 24
Church,
Forsyth. Everyone is welcome on any night.
Rev. T.J. Head is pastor.
Kynette United Methodist Church, 266
April 18, 19
thu
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Monroe County Board of Health voted
to increase its $50,000 commitment for
renovations on its building up to $75,000
to ma ch the contribution from Monroe
C6 inty its application for a $750,000
COmmunity Block Development Grant
from the state to renovate the building
at 106 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in
Forsyth.
Morris Hutcheson of Georgia Depart-
ment of Public Health North Central
District, which includes Monroe County,
will present the proposal to Monroe
County commissioners at their meeting
on March 19. The Board of Health had al-
ready agreed to contribute $50,000 but will
match 7whatever the commissioners will
give over $50,000 up to $75,000, hoping to
increase,chances of getting the grant from
the state.
Hutcheson said that renovations needed
at the Health Department are estimated at
$947,500. The maximum amount for the
Community Block Development Grant
is $750,000. The building, located next to
Monroe County Hospital, needs extensive
work on plumbing and flooring, enlarging
examining rooms and other improvements
and repairs. The Middle Georgia Regional
Commission is writing the application
for the grant, which is due April 1. Carter
Watkins Associates of Monroe is the archi-
tectural firm working on the project.
Although the Board of Health has
identified replacing carpet and flooring as
an immediate need at the Health Depart-
ment, Hutcheson said the architects have
recommended delaying any work until the
people making the decision on the CBDG
can tour the building and see the condition
it is in and the need.
"Make the Board of Commissioners
aware of what it will cost if we don't get the
grant" board member Hugh Cromer told
Hutcheson. Hutcheson told Commissioner
Larry Evans, who is the BOC representa-
tive on the Hospital Board, that he should
abstain from the BOC vote on committing
funds for the Health Department renova-
tion.
In her nurse manager report at the quar-
terly Board of Health meeting on March
11, Whitney Lover documented the issues
at the building in Februar)n There was a
clogged toilet in the patient lab restroom
and brown water running into the toilet in
the front office area on Feb. 14. On Feb. 21
a gas smell coming from the utility room
alerted the staffto a small gas leak. On
Feb. 26 maintenance fixed a toilet that was
constantly running. On March 5 the toilet
overflowed in the front desk area.
Other board members present at the
March 11 meeting, in addition to Cromer
and Evans, were Jeremy Goodwin, Lillian
Davis, Dr. Mike Hickman, Chris Hewer
and Eric Wilson. Other staff members
present, in addition to Lovett, were Gina
Smith and Cathy Jenkins.
& Friends Rd Forsyth
417 N Frontage
February
Students
Rock Springs Chris-
tian Academy Star
Students for Febru-
ary are, left to right,
bottom row, Cael
Hawkins, Cason
Crowe, Tucker Mc-
Daniel, Kurt Schal-
Iott; 2nd row, Callen
Hill, Lola Kile, Bella
Martin, Karoline
Westbury; 3rd row,
Jadon White, Ka-
leigh Kimbell, Sam
Watson: 4th row,
Jace Harrison, Logan
Benton, Tony Bryan,
Caden Fleming, Alex
Abernathy. Karoline
Westbury and Jadon
White are Monroe
residents.
Ken Shamrock spea at Rock Springs Church
Ken Shamrock visited Rock Springs Church for a Men's Breakfast and special ap-
pearance for church worship services with Senior Pastor, Dr. Benny Tate.
Shamrock has an international following from both Ultimate Fighting Champion-
ship/Mixed Martial Arts (UFC/MMA) and pro wrestling. Hundreds of men gath-
ered to hear his powerful testimony on Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Men's Breakfast. Tate
shared a message on the importance of men and families on Sunday, and Shamrock
shared more about his experiences in professional fighting and wrestling. He dis-
cussed his troubled childhood, including living as a runaway, getting kicked out
of placement homes, alcoholism/drugs and fighting. He shared how he eventually
turned his life over to Christ.
9
Lee Smith
Man - Fri 10 to 7
Unless Playing Golf
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