God

The smokehad barely settled from the conclave of cardinals' announcement that Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio had been elected as Pope Francis, when the scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, Switzerland, made their own announcement: the so-called “God particle” does indeed exist. “Look quick,” my wife told me, directing me to the evening news. “They've discovered the 'God particle.'” I was curious: Was it A God Particle? Or The God Particle?

Memorial services for Ronald J. Ribando, 64, will be conducted 4 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at Ark of Mercy Church of God.

James A. Hisle, 90, husband of Elizabeth Baber Hisle, passed away at 3:25 a.m. Tuesday, March 19, 2013, at the Clark Regional Medical Center. James was affectionately knows as “Sweet Pickle” and respected by many in his life on this earth for his deep love for our Lord Jesus Christ and his kind and gentle disposition. A native of Clark County, he was the son of the late Henry and Hattie Hisle. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his sons, Jim D. Hisle and Ronald E. Hisle; grandchildren, Justin Hisle, Kelly Brandenburg, Debbie Hisle, Jimmy Hisle, Chrissie Hopkins and Michelle Brushaber; brothers, Jackie Hisle, Raymond Hisle and Earl Hisle; special friends, Marlee McFadden, Kaylee Rogers and Debi Hisle; and many great grandchildren.

Jimmy Darrell Taulbee, 55, husband of Barbara Cheeseman Taulbee, passed away at 7:21 p.m. Thursday, March 14, 2013, at his home. A native of Clark County, he was the son of the late Jeremiah Taulbee and the late Evalee Turner Stanhope. Jimmy was an Infiltrators Incorporated machine operator, an Army veteran and a member of the Trinity Church of God. Additional survivors include a stepson, Aaron Johnson; a step-grandson, Gage Alexander Johnson; three brothers, Charles Taulbee, Jeremiah Taulbee, Jr. and Foster Taulbee; a half brother, Courtney Taulbee; five sisters, Betty Woosley, Juanita Robinson, Geraldine Adams, Carol Tipton and Angela Taulbee; and several nieces and nephews and cousins.

One of the promises of God, made to all who receive it, is the eventual entry into the place where God resides. Christians, and others, refer to that place as heaven. The heavenly hosts are there. Angels, who never knew the joy that our salvation brings, are there. Every person we have known and who trusted in God for eternal life is in paradise, the perfect waiting room prior to the entry into Heaven. A more sentimental awareness reminds us that those we loved on the deepest human emotional level possible, and who have died as followers of Christ, are there.

Editor's note: This is the second column in a series on prayer. We are looking at Matthew 6, at what is referred to as the Lord's prayer, but should really be called the disciple's prayer. The prayer found in the Gospel of John, chapter 17, would fit that description better. The Lord taught His disciples to pray - not that they would pray like a parrot, repeating the same words over and over again, or like a disobedient child asking over and over again, until he gets what he wants from his parent.

A battle for control of the Church of God of America Inc. has been underway since the organization's main worship house and headquarters on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Danville burned to the ground on Jan. 31, 2010, and $918,000 in insurance money was collected.  Now the feud has moved from the church's pews and meeting halls into the courtroom. Three Somerset men who identify themselves as church elders and trustees and claim to represent the church itself, along with 27 people identified as church members, have filed a lawsuit in Boyle Circuit Court alleging that Tim Napier, bishop and president of the church, and three others have misappropriated church funds for their own use while acting without proper authority to rebuild the church in Danville and locking the doors of sister churches in Somerset and Shelbyville.

Is it harder to be perfect or imperfect? A safe answer might lie in the conclusion that it is much harder to be imperfect. To live with imperfection extracts a daily toll and accumulates a growing indebtedness that can never be paid. Those who strive for perfected living are hard on themselves. Whatever is undertaken is never good enough. They are tormented and are led to quiet desperation with their inability to have everything they touch be seen as perfected idealism. Haunted by the consistent evaluation of the “failed” work, these idealists often fall into despondency,  judge themselves as frauds and wonder if people think of them as such.

Every soul who was or will be born has within them the image of God. To have some embryonic sense of the likeness of God is to see that each of us was born with that image. This fact is, or should be, the great denominator for understanding and evaluating where each of us stands in His presence. We have been made to be a part of what He is. At birth He dwelt within us and remains as we mature He will invite us to accept Him as One who has redeemed us from a sinful nature and gives us the grace of forgiveness.

Editor's note: In October, 2012, a story was published in The Advocate-Messenger about Rejoice Temple of Praise in Moreland raising money to help their pastor, Charles Daugherty and his wife Andrea Daugherty pay for his alternative cancer treatments in Colorado. We want to thank you and may God continue to bless you all. To our family and our church family at Rejoice Temple of Praise, we want to thank them for their hard work, sacrifice and expressions of love they have shown to Pastor Daugherty and me. My Timberland and Staffmark families are awesome!