Volume No. 140 Issue No. 6 June 2008
Vince's View
Dear Family & Friends of West Union Chapel & Walhalla Presbyterian
Church,
Public pronouncements about the Church over the past 30 years or so
would lead us to think that the Church is a basket case. Listen to what
marketing expert George Barna has found in his surveys regarding public
attitudes toward the Church:
Loyalty to the Church, as an institution in which we have a personal
investment and which we care about, is dropping. ...Membership in Christian
churches is waning. Involvement in small group Bible studies has not
increased in several years. Willingness to assume a leadership role
in the congregation is declining.
...Attitudes about the value of the Christian faith are also deteriorating
slowly but steadily. A large minority of adults say that the Church
is not "relevant" for today. The majority of adults say that
in difficult times they will put their trust in self rather than in
God. Less than half of the public believes that churches and religious
faith can help people deal with difficult times in their life. ...
After listening to Barna and some of the other opinion pollsters, we
begin to wonder if there's any hope for the church. And then, we remember
that the public derision, rejection, and abandonment of God's truth
and His body as crazy, useless, and irrelevant is nothing new.
From the first days of Christ's life on earth, Jesus and His followers
had run into resistance and hostility from the Jews. When the hostility
reached the level of Christ's violent murder by torture on Calvary,
the Jews thought the Christian sect was finished. But soon this sect
started popping up everywhere, preaching that Jesus is the Christ. Far
from being wiped out by the murder of Jesus, the Christian church was
bigger and more vocal than ever.
The Jews repeatedly imprisoned the preachers of Jesus as the Christ,
and they commanded them never to preach in His name again. But the Christians
couldn't keep silent. And the Jews began to use murder as a means to
silence their prophetic voices.
Paul knew firsthand both sides of the argument. He had been the prime
persecutor of the Church on behalf of the Jews; and he had seen "Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God" with his own two eyes on
the road to Damascus.
Saul's rebirth recreates him into a whole new kind of basket case. His
preaching of the Gospel makes him the target of his former Jewish allies.
The Jews watch the city gates for a chance to murder Saul. His only
hope for escape is to completely trust his life into the hands of the
Christians he came to Damascus to kill. The once proud Saul crouches
down into a basket. He then totally relies upon his new Christian brothers
to lower him in the basket to safety.
God couldn't work through Saul until Saul became so humble as to recognize
his total dependence on the Lord. Reduced from the status of righteous
Super Jew and Chief Christian Hunter, to riding out of town in a basket
like an abandoned child. Saul is let down to the bottom, just far enough
to be resurrected to eternal life! Saul is finally humble enough to
see with spiritually open eyes that the greatest basket case of all
time is the Saviour of the World.
Our God specializes in basket cases. God works through basket cases
like Moses in the bullrushes; the Hebrew nomads who had no country or
political power; the humble shepherd Amos of Tekoa; the prophet Daniel
who was on death row without a chance; the little boy whose basket of
5 loaves and 2 fish fed 5000; Lazarus, or the daughter of Jairus whom
everybody had given up for dead; the hated tax gatherer Zacchaeus; the
despised prostitute Mary Magdalene; and finally, Jesus of Nazareth.
If you think you're not good enough for God, you're on the way to salvation.
The only one Who can make us good enough for God is the One Who blinded
Saul with His perfect light on the Damascus Road. God can't use us until
we're His basket cases.
The Church may apparently be a basket case to the outside world, but
that's not a bad thing if it brings us to the point of total dependence
on the grace and Spirit of Jesus Christ. It matters not what the world
thinks of the Church on the outside. Who we are on the inside is what
will change this world for Christ and His Kingdom.
Riding with you in God's Great Basket,
Rev. Vince Alig
Report from Xpujil Mexico Mission Trip
March 1-8, 2008
Thanks to Alan Houtzer for this "web
journal" of our recent mission trip to serve with Missionary Todd
Luke. Just click on this link to see the journal: http://homepage.mac.com/ahoutzer/Xpujil
VacationBible School
Submitted by: Sylvia Rumer ---By: Susan Roper, VBS Director
Your Beach Party, Surfin' Through
the Scriptures
Your kids are invited to the BEACH PARTY:
SURFIN' THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES, a Vacation Bible School where
they will be a part of fun in the SON Bible learning!
At this beach party, your children will become surfers riding the wave
of God's love.
The Bible stories presented at the Scripture Scene encourage your children
to develop Beach Be-Attitudes: Be Obedient, Be
Kind, Be Forgiving, Be Bold, and Believe.
Your Children will extend their learning through every activity: making
their own special memories in Beachcomber Crafts, singing fun tunes
at Sound Waves, experiencing science Lab, participating in recreational
activities at Rockin' Rec, and enjoying tasty snacks at the Snack Shack.
The Beach Party will be located at Saint Luke United Methodist Church,
June 16th through 20th. The fun will start at 5:45 every evening and
will end at 8:15pm.
Registration information will be provided later in the spring.
In the meantime, round up all the children you love (Age 4 through
5th grade) and tell them they won't want to miss this FUN IN
THE SON! It will be a cooperative venture sponsored by St. Luke
Methodist Church, Walhalla Presbyterian Church, West Union Presbyterian
Chapel, St. John's Lutheran Church & West Union Chapel.
West
Union Chapel News
By: E. R. Bryant
The rains have fallen this Spring and the flowers and God's green world
are extremely beautiful this year. The crops and gardens seemingly spring
up overnight. Surely God has answered when we are in need. I do not
believe that God would hold back the needed rain, but mankind has so
poisoned the environment that the natural process of the climate is
greatly harmed, undoing the work of a great and wonderful Creator.
The Sunday of May 18 was the last luncheon until September, but let's
not forget the church picnic. It will be on the 26th of July and begins
at 11:00am. The picnic will be held at the Biggerstaff Retreat again
this year. All are welcome to come and will be warmly welcomed for a
great time of food and fellowship.
We at the Chapel continue to have Sunday school at 9:45am and end at
10:45am each Sunday morning. We have Bible study at 6:00pm each Sunday
afternoon that lasts for one hour. This is a wonderful in-depth study
and we have a great time as we learn the Word of our God. Come in for
one of our lessons; I believe that you will want to return for more
lessons and fellowship
THANK YOU GOD
Thank you, God, for this beautiful Spring,
the flowers all in bloom and all is green.
Thank you for our daily bread,
a place at night to rest our head.
Thank you for watching over us each day,
as we go along our hurried way.
Please, Father, let us do your will;
Use our life, Your work fulfill.
Help us to draw others near,
when they are filled with doubt and fear.
We thank You, Lord, in reverent prayer;
We know You hear and are ever there.
CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES
Our congratulations go out to Drew Satterfield
who graduated with honors from Walhalla High School. Drew is the son
of Becky Satterfield of the West Union Chapel and Grandson of Ed &
Pat Bryant.
Dr. & Mrs. Alton Barnett are pleased to announce
the graduation from high cchool of two grandsons this year. May 24th,
Asher Steinbeck, son of Larry and Dianne Barnett Steinbeck, from
Kennesaw Mountain High School in Kennesaw, GA. He plans to go to Clemson
University and major in Auto Engineering. May 30th, Trey Barnett,
son of Al and Andrea Barnett, from Oconee Christian Academy in Seneca.
He plans to go to Charleston Southern and major in Psychology, with
an emphasis in Religious Youth Ministry.
PRESBYTERIANS IN THE KITCHEN
Sour Cream Apple Tart
Germaine Shick
Pastry for one 9 crust, 2 eggs,
1 cup sour cream, 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar, 3 cups sliced tart apples
2 Tblsp. flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt, 1/3 cup flour
2 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 cup butter
Line pie pan with pastry. Beat together sour cream, sugar, flour, salt,
vanilla, cream cheese, and eggs. Add diced apples to pie pan and pour
mixture over them. Bake at 3750 for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and
cover with crumbs that have been made by mixing together the brown sugar,
1/3 cup flour, and butter. Return to oven and bake for 20 minutes longer.
Says Germaine: Of my hundreds of cookbooks, a VERY favorite is a 40
page, 1958 Pennsylvania Dutch booklet. I don't make pies much as I never
really had a hankerin' for them. But this one is the exception!! And
I've made it often due to its rave reviews. You'll LOVE it or die sorry
if you don't.
Germaine Shick and husband Art have been residents of West Union and
members of WPC for a number of years. Sons Travis and Adam and their
wives have blessed them with five grandchildren (soon to be six). As
well as being a faithful member of the church choir, Germaine frequently
shares her creative artistic talents in our church and the community.
More History
by: Annie Brown
Born on March 18, 1782, near Abbeville in the Ninety Six District of
South Carolina, John Caldwell Calhoun is one of South Carolina's most
influential and beloved sons. To read his family's history is to read
the history of many families who have called upstate South Carolina
home for generations. His marriage to a distant cousin from Charleston
tied the legacy of the small, backcountry farmer to that of the lowcountry
planter. This union, too, is representative of the unity that was developing
within the state after the Revolution. His heritage played an important
part in producing the man we know as John C. Calhoun. One thing is certain:
people throughout the entire state loved and respected John C. Calhoun.
His name adorns statues, buildings, parks, and schools in all parts
of South Carolina. Calhoun County was also named for him.
John C. Calhoun was descended from the Scottish clan of Colquhoun. His
ancestors left Scotland in search of land in Ireland, but religious
and political difficulties soon brought the family to America. His father
(Patrick) was six years old in 1733 when the family settled in Pennsylvania
near the Potomac River. Typical of many Calvinist colonists, the family
was known to be religious, hardworking, and thrifty. In the mid 1840's,
the family moved down the Shenandoah Valley with a group of similar
colonists and settled in the southern part of Augusta County, Virginia.
There the family prospered, and within ten years, they held more than
three thousand acres of bottom land near Reed Creek. The Calhouns might
have stayed forever in this beautiful part of Virginia had not the French
and Indian War broken out in 1754.[1] In 1755, however, the full
horror of Indian War[2] came to this part of Virginia. That same
year, in South Carolina, the colonial government agreed to build a fort
to protect the Cherokees from the French; in return, the Cherokees agreed
to give to South Carolina the lands south and east of Long Cane Creek.
On a visit to the Waxhaws (then part of South Carolina, but now in North
Carolina), Patrick Calhoun learned of a planned settlement in the ceded
land. He hurried home to Virginia to encourage his family and his neighbors
to move to this newly opened land in South Carolina. The danger from
Indians was so great in Virginia that Patrick moved his family to South
Carolina in the dead of winter, even though this made a harsh journey
even harder. Several other families left with the Calhouns; as the threat
of Indian attack worsened, many more families followed in a mass migration
out of Pennsyvania and Virginia.
The Calhouns and their companions traveled along the well used Catabaw
Path to the Waxhaws, then along less traveled paths to Rocky Creek.
From there, they crossed the Broad River and then forded the Little
River and the Saluda River to reach the trading post known as Ninety
Six.[3] There they left the last white man behind as they pushed
on to Long Cane Creek.[4] Most of the travelers stopped at Long
Canes, but the Calhouns went on a few miles to a stream known as Little
River and built their log cabin on a tributary named Calhoun's Creek.
Although it was February when they arrived, they found the weather mild,
the soil fertile, and wild game plentiful. Patrick Calhoun was a surveyor,
and by 1758, more than fifty plats had been surveyed. The community
had become one of the largest in the upstate. Trouble with the Indians
was brewing, however, because the Long Cane settlement lay west
of the creek whose 'dividing waters' marked the Indian boundary, and
the Cherokees looked upon its growth with increasing alarm.[5]
As reported in an earlier Messenger article, on February 1, 1760, a
group of settlers set out for Augusta (about 50 miles away) and was
attacked by Cherokee Indians. About fifty settlers were killed, including
John C. Calhoun's grandmother and his uncle, James Calhoun. Two of William
Calhoun's (another uncle) daughters were killed, and one was taken prisoner.
It was John's father Patrick who went back to bury the dead; he also
traveled to Charleston to urge greater protection for the settlers.
Aid was promised, but the settlers knew they must protect themselves.
It was several years before real help came from the government. In 1764,
the South Carolina legislature voted to pay for a company of rangers
to protect Long Canes; the company consisted of twenty men, and their
captain was Patrick Calhoun.[6]
During this troubled time, most of the Long Cane settlers moved back
to the more settled Waxhaw section of South Carolina. It was there that
Patrick Calhoun met lovely Jean Craighead, whom he later married. (He
had probably known her as a child in Virginia) Her father was the Reverend
Alexander Craighead, and her sister, Nancy, was married to William Richardson,
the pastor of the Waxhaw Presbyterian Church. Reverend Richardson was
the only minister regularly serving these new settlements in South Carolina.
When Reverend Richardson went to Long Canes in 1764 to organize a church,
he found many Presbyterians eagerly awaiting his arrival. He baptized
sixty babies and performed several marriages. (It is believed that he
married Patrick Calhoun and Jean Craighead at this time.) Jean Calhoun
died in 1766 during the birth of twins who also died.[7] It was hard
for Patrick Calhoun to accept the loss of his wife and children. Always
a leader, however, Patrick Calhoun threw himself even more deeply into
the affairs of his community. Trying to right the wrongs done to citizens
of the backcountry, the Regulators were formed. In 1769, despite the
fact that the polling places were located near Charleston, Patrick Calhoun
was elected as a representative to the colonial legislature (the second
from the back country). Still in his early forties, Patrick Calhoun
was perhaps the most prominent man in all the upper country, and he
was ready to settle down again. In June of 1770 he married Martha Caldwell,
born in Charlotte County, Virginia, whither her forbears had migrated
like the Calhouns from Scotland by way of Ulster. Over the next fifteen
years, a daughter and four sons were born of this marriage. The fourth
child and third son was John Caldwell Calhoun.[8] Thus, John C.
Calhoun's life began on the rough frontier of the back country of South
Carolina. His experiences there, along with those of his family, played
a large role in the development of his character and help to explain
many of the positions he took during his political career.
Note from Annie: School is now out for the summer, but it will resume
in the fall with more about John C. Calhoun and conditions leading up
to the Civil War, if you want me to continue with this history of life
in South Carolina.
[1] Wiltse, Charles M.; John C. Calhoun Nationalist, 1782-1828; pp.12-13.
[5] Wiltse; p.15.
[2] Wiltse; p.13. [6] Wiltse; pp.16-17.
[3] Wiltse; pp.13-14. [7] Wiltse; p.17-18.
[4] Wiltse; p.14. [8] Wiltse; p. 22.
Hymn of the Month
Submitted by: Doug Keel
There Is a Fountain
1772
Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His
blood, through faith,
to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His
forbearance
God had passed over the sins that were previously
committed. Romans 3:25
William Cowper is one of God's gracious gifts to those suffering from
depression. Like the Psalmist who cried, Why are you cast down,
O my soul? (Psalm 42:5), Cowper shows us that our emotional struggles
often give us heightened sensitivity to the heart of God and to the
needs of others.
Cowper (pronounced Cooper), born in 1731, was the fourth child of a
British clergyman and his wife. William's three siblings died, then
his mother died while giving birth to the fifth child. William was six
when he lost his mother, and it was a blow from which he never recovered.
Years later, when someone sent him a picture of her, he wrote:
My mother! When I learn'd
that thou wast dead,
Say,
wast thou conscious of the tears I shed?
Hover'd
thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son,
Wretch even then, life's journey just begun?...
I heard the bell toll'd on thy burial day.
I
saw the hearse that bore thee slow away,
And,
turning from my nurs'ry window, drew
a
long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu!
William, emotionally frail, was sent to a boarding school where for
two years he was terrorized by a bully, which further shattered his
nerves. From ages 10 to 18, he had a better experience at Westminster
School, developing a love for literature and poetry. His father wanted
him to be an attorney, but, preparing for his bar exam, he experienced
runaway anxiety. Concluding himself damned, he threw away his Bible
and attempted suicide.
Friends recommended an asylum run by Dr. Nathaniel Cotton, a lover of
poetry and a committed Christian. Under Dr. Cotton's care, William slowly
recovered. In the asylum in 1764, he found the Lord while reading Romans
3:25: ...whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through
faith
His life was still to hold many dark days of intense
depression, but at least he now had a spiritual foundation. As he later
put it:
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
Psalm 94:22
...the Lord has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my refuge.