The Trussville Tribune
Page 8
Opinion
FAITH: Experts on Jesus By Tyler Warner
I was a youth pastor for 8 years. My job was to launch young men and women out into the world, as prepared for life as a Christian adult as I could make them. Many of these students went on to universities where they encountered professors and administrators hostile to the Gospel. Some of them would actively try to dissuade them from their faith. Because these men and women stand in a position of authority, the students have a hard time dismissing them. I have had many long conversations with Freshmen home for the holidays, trying to knead out the new wrinkles in their understanding. These people rely mostly on mockery and platitudes to make their case. They parrot outdated scholarship and have very little familiarity with what the Bible actually says. I would try to prepare the kids for specific issues as much as I could, but I always told them that the best solution was to become the resident expert on Jesus. That seems like an appropriate role for a Christian, don’t you think? I taught them to know every word Jesus had said, and to at least have a basic understanding of solid
Christian doctrine. That way when some crazy prof spouts off about what Jesus “actually said” or what Christians “really believe,” they could stand up and assert the truth.
Tyler Warner
This applies to every one of us. We are Christians, disciples of Christ. We ought to know everything there is to know about Him, to be familiar with every word He said. You do not need to have a bunch of letters after your name to read the Gospels – they’re not that long! There are no “secret books”, and there plenty of smart Christian thinkers whose ministries would be a great help to you. Abiding in Christ means holding on to who He is. You
have a responsibility in a hostile world to know the Word, and to know what godly men have believed for 2,000 years about Him. How can a branch grow if it has only a tenuous connection to the Vine? If you try to grow in your walk with Christ, but know very little about Him, you will be stunted in your growth. And besides that, don’t you want to know Him? Don’t you want to know the Man who died for you? Aren’t His words like precious diamonds, too priceless to let a single one slip from your fingers? It has become very chic to treat Jesus like a Thneed from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss – He can be pretty much whatever you want Him to be. That leaves us with a powerless idol made in our own image. The real Christ defies every attempt to recruit Him to any other team than His own. Don’t chase a version of Jesus, the real person is too wonderful to pass up. Tyler Warner is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Trussville. CCT meets on Sunday mornings at 9:30am, at 5239 Old Springville Rd. Listen to Tyler’s verse-byverse Bible teaching at CalvaryChapelTrussville.com or Sundays at 8:30am on 101.1 FM.
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David Carroll News and Notes: Listening in on the Party Line
By David Carroll
Most young people have never seen a telephone attached to a wall. Let’s face it, if all of us were suddenly confined to a phone cord that only allowed about ten feet of space, we’d go crazy. What? We can’t talk on the phone while on the porch, in the back yard, or most importantly, in the car? What would we ever do with ourselves? Not to mention this: as far as we know, no one listens in on our modern-day telephone conversations. (Let’s leave the NSA and the Russians out of this, because that’s another story.) Cell phones far outnumber landline phones in homes across the United States. Long ago we said goodbye to operators, tangled cords, and directory assistance. Phone books are a thing of the past. And thank goodness we no longer have to deal with party lines. When I told my children that once upon a time, the whole neighborhood had access to each other’s phone calls, they were dumbfounded. “The people next door could just pick up the phone and listen?” they said. “Yep, they sure could. Along with folks in about eight other houses.” They asked, “What if they needed to make a phone call?” “Well,” I responded, “they would just have to wait. Unless they were really rude, and they would just interrupt you and tell you to get off the phone.” Oh yes, it happened. Eventually, to prevent such “hogging,” phone companies limited each call to six minutes. You would get a one minute warning, a final ten-second warning, and then it was goodbye, like it or not. Party lines were a way of life, until the 1970s. Eventually “private lines” became available, for an extra charge, because it was a great luxury. Everybody has a party line story. Here’s mine. When I got a weekend radio job at WEPG in South Pittsburg, I was sixteen years old. It was my claim to fame, and my only connection to coolness. It only took a couple of weeks before it went to my head. At that time, I also worked in my
family’s store, which shared a party line, including our residence next door. One day, things were a little slow in the store, so I walked over to the house and called into the radio station for something. The disc jockey put me on the air. I guess he thought that two deejays talking would be deeply entertaining. I have no idea what we were talking about, but I’m sure I was doing my best to sound like a big deal. No doubt I was promoting my show for the upcoming weekend, and trying to sound really hip. About a minute into the conversation, my mother got on the line. She was working in the store, which had apparently gotten busy all of a sudden.
sands of radio listeners!” (I probably exaggerated by a few thousand). She showed no sympathy, basically explaining that the store came first. And you wonder why I got into radio. Folks have some great memories of party lines. I asked a few of my Facebook friends. Some say they remember “the old ladies” gossiping about everyone in the neighborhood, who were listening to every word! (It was better than going out to the clothes line, especially in bad weather.) One friend told me, “There were no secrets. Everyone knew who was sick, who was expecting company for the weekend, and who was fooling around with whom.”
I was right in the middle of some very amusing bigtime DJ chatter when the radio listeners heard a woman’s voice: “David, I need you…. come help me right now!” The deejay at the station started laughing uproariously. “Who was that? And why does she need you so desperately?” I certainly didn’t want to say, “Uh, my mama needs me…I gotta go!” So instead I said, “Wow, I don’t know what’s going on, heh heh. You know how these party lines are! Well, good talkin’ with you, see ya on Sunday!” I raced over to the store, and after the throng of customers had cleared out, I said, “Mom! You embarrassed me on the phone in front of thou-
Another friend said, “My aunt would listen in on the neighbors all day, and she would forget she was on the line. Sometimes she would answer questions the other people were asking. It was so funny when they would scream at her to get off the phone!” These days, many of us depend on social media to tell us who’s dating who, who got married, who had a baby, and who has arthritis. The party line is still around in the 21st century. Now we call it Facebook. (David Carroll is a Chattanooga TV news anchor and radio host. You may follow him at ChattanoogaRadioTV. com, or contact him at radiotv2020@yahoo.com)
Sealed Bids will be received by the City of Argo, Alabama at their City Hall, located at 100 Blackjack Road, Argo, Alabama 35173 until 2:00 P.M., Central Time, Monday, March 15th, 2021 for furnishing all materials, labor, tools and equipment, and carrying out construction activities in accordance with the Plans, Specifications and Contract Documents on file in the office of the City of Argo for the Project hereinafter described. The project site is located at 100 Blackjack Road in Argo, Alabama. The principal work to be performed is to improve the existing parking and driveway facilities at the property of the City of Argo Municipal Building (the “Project”). The Project includes the following operations: utility service relocation/ modifications, new asphalt driveway, asphalt parking lot, demolition, earthwork, storm, and curb and gutter in accordance with the Plans, Specifications, and Contract Documents. The work to construct the Project improvements will be let under one contract if an award should be made. For information on the work please see city official for more information and a walk through of proposed work needs. The Plans, Specifications and Contract Documents are open to public inspection at the City Hall of the City of Argo, Alabama. The attention of all Bidders is called to the fact that Pre-Bid Conference will be held at the Argo City Hall, 100 Blackjack Road, Argo, Alabama 35173 on Monday, March 1st at 2:00 P.M., Central Time. This Pre-Bid Conference is Not Mandatory for all contractors planning to submit a Bid Proposal on this project. No bids will be received after the time of the bid submission deadline that is set forth above. The bids will be publicly opened and read at the above address after this time. The City reserves the right to reject any or all Bid Proposals, to waive any informality in any Bid Proposal, and to accept any Bid Proposal considered advantageous to the Owner. No Bid Proposal may be withdrawn after the time of opening Bid Proposals has passed. The City reserves the right to hold Bid Proposals for a period of sixty (60) days after the date of receiving Bid Proposals. Each Bid Proposal must be accompanied by a bid bond or certified check payable to the City of Argo in an amount equal to 5% of the total amount of the Bid Proposal, but not exceed $10,000. Interested contractor shall submit their bid in an envelope that prominently displays the Name and Address of the City and the Contractor’s Alabama License Number. Envelopes are to be clearly labeled “Parking and Driveway Improvements - City of Argo Municipal Building - Bid Proposal - City of Argo”. The Contractor shall obtain and pay for all licenses and permits required by the State, County, or City Authorities having jurisdiction over the various phases of the work. The successful Bidder must finish the following before commencing work: (i) a Performance Bond’ for one hundred percent (100%) of the Bid Proposal/ contract amount; (ii) a Labor & Materials Bond for 50% of that amount; and (iii) evidence of insurance.
