Wednesday, April 23, 2003

By Staff
Council on Aging sets catfish luncheon
To the editor:
On behalf of the Lauderdale County Council on Aging and as president of this great organization, I would like to take this opportunity to invite all seniors 55 years of age and older to attend the catfish luncheon to be held at the Frank Cochran Center on May 9, 2003, at Highland Park. A health fair will also take place prior to the luncheon.
After the catfish luncheon the "Wesley Belles" will sing patriotic songs and gift certificates will be given away between songs. This is an annual event which is totally free to any senior who is a resident of Lauderdale County, so mark your calendars now.
The health fair is from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.; donor displays are from 11 a.m. to noon and the catfish luncheon will begin at noon. So plan to be with your senior friends on May 9.
Jim Knowles
President LCCOA
Meridian
Nothing Christian about Mardi Gras
To the editor:
Earlier this spring you had some extensive coverage of the Mardi Gras festival and two subsequent letters were written to your opinion column about this subject. The classification of the festival as Christian is contrary to the word of God and is an indicator of the moral decay of Christian values within our nation.
The advent of a widescale Mardi Gras celebration and other such festivals in Meridian is inevitable. Popular consensus indicates that it is a party time in the USA. Give us bread and circuses cry our citizens; feed us and entertain us. We seek to dictate what is Godly and what is not. We have been given the word of God, but we seek to revise it to fit our lusts.
The word of God speaks clearly against such revelry. In Galatians 5:21, we see these party-goers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Romans 13:12-14 and Ephesians 5:18 also warn us about partying and drinking. First Peter 4:3-4 gives the same warning and explains that the world will speak evil of those who abstain from such behavior.
So where do these actions get classified as Christian? The answer is that they cannot unless someone is calling evil good and good evil. The word of God warns of this:
Isaiah 5:20-22: Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.
The band AC/DC has a song titled "Highway to Hell" promoting the moral lawlessness of what we would now call freedom in the U.S. They claim that it isn't easy living free, and claim to be on the way to the promise land. God help us when freedom is shamelessness, and the anthem of the land of the free is living without any moral restraints. We have been warned of the broad way and the wide gate that leads to destruction, so we are without excuse (Mat. 7:13-14). We are the greatest nation on earth, but we have failed to heed the warnings of God. The warnings issued to Tyrus (Ezekiel 17 and 18) and Babylon (Rev. 14:8-11, 17:1-6 and 18) have been ignored. We have mixed the gospel with paganism to the point that even the godless hate us for our hypocrisy. Muhammad once said that he would be a Christian if it weren't for the Christians. We claim to be one nation under God, but with observation it becomes clear that we serve mammon (money).
The word of God tells us that these offenses will come (Mat. 18:7, Luke 17:1), but it also tells us that the powers that are ordained of God (Romans 13:1). Therefore let us not call these pagan practices good and those who speak against them evil, but rather let us come out from among them and touch not the unclean thing (2 Corinthians 6:17) looking forward to the coming of the kingdom of our God and savior Jesus Christ.
Joel Caton
Meridian