I was just thinking on this Monday morning, January 10, 2011.

We had some bad weather reports for the state of Mississippi and Covington County yesterday morning (Sunday 1/9/2011) the weather was going to start turning bad about 4:00 PM. I was so amazed at how so many church folks (Christians) did not attend their morning services for fear of what was predicted to be coming in the distance. I do understand elderly folks not getting out in bad weather because they are vulnerable to sickness because their immune system is weak. But for so many who are the younger that stayed home in fear I question? We had a wonderful service on Sunday morning and those who stayed home missed the wonderful presence of the Lord as He ministered to the needs of the people. Why, do people stay home and miss these great blessings?

I want to establish the point that I do believe we must all stay alert and be prepared for bad weather of any type, this is simple logic. But, at the same point we cannot live in utter fear before the weather even gets to us. Of all the people in the world who ought not to be living their lives in fear is Christians. We must live our lives realizing that God is in control of everything including our life therefore we must trust Him in all things. The writer of Hebrews wrote,
Hebrews 10:23-25 New Living Translation ®,
23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

We did dismiss our evening services because the weather did take a change and the rains began to freeze on the trees and in that kind of weather it is difficult for people to navigate the roads and bridges. It is a very hard thing for me to call a service off for any reason, but the safety of the people is a real reason. So on Sunday evening I sat in the warmth of my home with my wife waiting for the lights to go out because we had lost electrical power. But by the mercies of the Lord, we did not have nearly the winter storm that was predicted for our area. I awakened on Monday, January 10, 2011 early in the morning. I looked out and saw the trees and the shrubs were glistening with ice all over them. I looked at the outside temperature it was still 29 degrees Fahrenheit. I prepared to go into Collins and then to Hattiesburg, but beings I was unsure of the road conditions I knew I had to proceed with some caution, which I did.

As I was going toward town I was passed by several automobiles, and low and behold three of them were people who could not make it to church yesterday morning (Sunday 1/9/2011) because they heard it was snowing in Texas and was heading our way.
I was just thinking, “What are the little things in life that cause you as a Christian to stay home from church? We must remember this is the last days and the writer of Hebrews said, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” This may not affect any of you that read this, but I was just thinking.