Fifty Years and Counting - a Tribute to George Carman

This post was written by Kaye Kiser. I asked if I could share it. George and Hilda have been friends to Tanya and me ever since we first met. They have touched many lives, both here and around the world.

On May 15, 2016, Dr. George Carman celebrated his 50th anniversary of preaching the gospel throughout the world! The Keller church of Christ, where George is currently a member, was privileged to hear him preach on this momentous occasion!  Following the sermon, the elders presented George  with a reprint of the Gutenberg Bible in honor of his lifelong, and oftentimes dangerous, service. It must also be mentioned that throughout his entire career, his wife, Hilda, was at his side providing support, encouragement, and service!

He has a bachelor degree in Biblical Studies from Sunset International Bible Institute (SIBI) and his Bachelors, Masters, and Doctor of Divinity degrees in Biblical studies from Theological University of America.   He is also a certified satellite school administrator, founding the Keller School of Biblical Studies (KSBS) at the Keller congregation and serving as administrator for their first six years, retiring from the position just last year.  George has either taught or overseen preacher training schools for over 15 years.  He served for 8 years establishing and organizing preacher training schools in Asia as a Regional Dean for Asia for the Sunset International Bible Institute (SIBI).  

George preached his first official sermon on May 15, 1966 in Tucumcari, New Mexico, where he grew up. For the next few months, he preached at various congregations in New Mexico until August when he moved to Lubbock, Texas to begin his formal training in ministry at the Sunset School of Preaching (currently known as Sunset International Bible Institute or SIBI). While attending school, he began his first preaching position, serving as minister for the congregation in Estelline, Texas, a small community outside Lubbock.  He served in this position from 1966-1968. Upon completion of his training with Sunset, he was hired by the 12th Street congregation in Seagraves, Texas where he served until 1970. 

George’s missionary work began in 1970 when he and his family moved to Thailand.  Next, he took a brief missionary position in Columbiana, Ohio from 1973-74, returning to Thailand until 1977.  From 2003 to 2009, George worked for Sunset International Bible Institute (SIBI) establishing satellite school of preaching in Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, and South Korea, establishing ten schools in total.  His last missionary post was in the Northeastern United States.

Throughout his 50 years in ministry, George served as a pulpit minister in Texas, Arkansas, and New Mexico for a total of 24 years and as a missionary throughout Asia and the United States for a total of 26 years.  George has left an unprecedented mark on the brotherhood through his missionary work, establishing schools of preaching, published writings, and serving at various congregations.  The churches of Christ have truly been blessed by this great evangelist's example and teaching!

Now I Sit Me Down in School

This anonymous piece has been attributed to various sources, typically a teenager in a school somewhere. Because the Lord’s Prayer is not allowed in most U.S. public schools any more, a student reportedly wrote the following.

Now I sit me down in school

Where praying is against the rule

For this great nation under God

Finds mention of Him very odd.

If scripture now the class recites,

It violates the Bill of Rights.

And anytime my head I bow

Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,

That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene.

The law is specific, the law is precise.

Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall

Might offend someone with no faith at all.

In silence alone we must meditate,

God’s name is prohibited by the State.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,

And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.

They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.

To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,

And the unwed daddy, our Senior King.

It’s “inappropriate” to teach right from wrong,

We’re taught that such “judgments” do not belong.

We can get free tools for birth controls,

Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,

No word of God must reach this crowd.

It’s scary here I must confess,

When chaos reigns the school’s a mess.

So, Lord, this silent plea I make:

Should I be shot, my soul please take!

What’s in Your Wallet?

He was arguably the greatest basketball coach of all time, whether at the college or professional level. He broke all kinds of records. He led the UCLA Bruins to ten national titles in twelve years, including seven consecutive championships. His players at one point won 88 games in a row, and he was chosen as the national coach of the year six times.

As you may know, he was John Wooden. He died in 2010, just a few months shy of his 100th birthday. Wooden believed that, before you could lead anyone else, you had to lead yourself. His personal principles empowered him to have the great influence he exerted, both on and off the court. No matter your field, whether ministry, business, or sports, you would do well to study the life and character of John Wooden.

What made the difference in his life was an item that he kept in his wallet.

It was a piece of paper that Wooden's father gave him when he was only twelve. Tattered and worn, it was his constant companion and source of guiding principles. Here’s how it read:

Be true to yourself.

Make each day your masterpiece.

Help others.

Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

Make friendship a fine art.

Build shelter against a rainy day.

Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

For 87 years, until he was 99 years old plus, this creed molded Coach Wooden’s life.

In addition, he believed that happiness comes from making and keeping nine promises:

1. Promise yourself that you will talk health, happiness and prosperity as often as possible.

2. Promise yourself to make all your friends know there is something in them that is special that you value.

3. Promise to think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best in yourself and others.

4. Promise to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

5. Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

6. Promise to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements in the future.

7. Promise to wear a cheerful appearance at all times and give every person you meet a smile.

8. Promise to give so much time improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

9. Promise to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit trouble to press on you.

If the Apostle Paul had owned a wallet, what would he have kept in it? What were his guiding principles, his compass points, his fundamental beliefs? Here is a passage that gives us a clear sense of the road map that he followed, and the one that must be ours as well.

Phil 3:8–14 (NASB95)

8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

What’s in your wallet?

Cory Collins

Life's Journey - Guest Post from Jim Parrow

This post was written by our brother and friend Jim Parrow, who presented it recently to the Keller church of Christ. Jim is not only a fine man; he is a native New Yorker and a very capable speaker. Thank you, brother! Note: this post appears unedited, just as Jim gave it.

LIFE’S JOURNEY

What was started after the French had given up on a project they began in 1881 and was restarted by John Findlay Wallace in 1904, then handed off to John Frank Stevens in 1905, completed under George Washington Goethals between 1905 -1914?

48 miles long

110 feet wide

37 feet deep

Displaced 211 million cubic yards of earth

Took 10 years to build – Once the US took over the project

Cost $375 Million dollars and 25,000 lives 1881 -1914

Connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean

Via 3 UP LOCKS & 3 DOWN LOCKS

Connected through the 164 SQ MILE manmade GATUN lake

Now used by more than 15,000 ships per year

Construction was through very dense jungle

Swarming with venomous snakes, insects, and spiders

Exposing workers to mosquitos carrying Malaria and Yellow fever and a host of tropical diseases.

Workers were dying at the rate of 200 per month.

The project required the construction of housing, cafeterias, hotels, water systems, sewage systems, repair shops, warehouses, and a railway ALL IN ADDITION TO THE Project itself.

Years of arguments, disputes, claims, counter claims, accusations and a flood of criticism overwhelmed all the Engineers in Charge but especially Col Goethals. He never let the obstacles or criticism sway him from the completing the monumental and very difficult task before him.

Oh yes - the project is known as the Panama Canal

Helped to shorten a war that the critics could not have foreseen in 1914

while enhancing world trade and reducing a 67 day journey to 8 hours.

We can turn to Genesis 5:32 through 10:1 and find another overwhelming project that was put before a man to accomplish facing odds and challenges we cannot comprehend, and at the time, unlike the Panama Canal, for no apparent reason to every ones understanding, except of course for Noah. Do ya think Noah would be criticized???

At the age of 500, he was assigned his civilization saving task. I’m only 69 and I already have lower back problems, hurt when I carry in the groceries, along with a host of other issues, so I can’t begin to imagine what Noah must have felt like at his age doing such tremendous manual labor, let alone the mental challenges he would face.

Vs 5 of Gen 6 tells us “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

In Vs 7 he went on to say – “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created and with them the animals, birds, and creatures that move along the ground” – but Vs 8 “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord”.

Ch 6 vs 9 / Ch 7 vs 4 outlines the specific instructions of WHAT he was to build, HOW he was to build it, WHAT would be permitted to go into it, and HOW he would need to provide for the survival of the precious cargo and VS 5 tells us Noah “DID ALL THE LORD HAD COMMANDED HIM”!

At 600 years of age the floodwaters came. Noah, his wife , Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives entered the ark and after 150 days, God sent a wind Ch 8 vs 1and “the water receded”.

On the 601st year on the 2nd month on the 27th day the land was once again dry and God told Noah to come out of the ark. Ch 8 vs 13-15

Ch 9 then goes on to tell us about God’s covenant with Noah and via the rainbow in the sky declares unto Noah God will never flood the earth again.

Noah lived to see God’s plan move forward until at the age of 950 years he died. Noah never allowed the difficulty of the task, or his obvious critics to sway him from him completeing his God’s task – God’s Way.

We know that George Goethals lived with 10 years of critics who kept telling him he was a fool, the project could never be done, it was not worth the time and money and lives, and on and on.

We do not read the specific of the Critics that must have berated Noah as he and his family followed God’s commands, but I believe it is logical to believe that building a huge boat in the middle of dry land with no water in sight could not have been accomplished without a century of criticism and ridicule.

Those who do not know God will always criticize those who do and though we live in the world we must refuse to be a part of the world.

2 Peter 2:5 – goes right back to Noah – “And spared not the world, but saved Noah the eighth person, A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.”

1 John 2:15 – “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, if any man love the world, the love of the Father IS NOT IN HIM”

John 15:19 – “If ye were of the world the world would love his own: BUT because ye are not of the world, I have chosen you out of the world , therefore the world hates you”

In our schools, our jobs, our athletic teams, our business dealings our neighborhoods, our political system, the world will tempt you to cheat, steal, gossip, backstab, lie, fulfill the desires of the flesh, hate, seek revenge or look the other way when someone else does, OR FACE THE RIDUCULE, CONTEMPT AND REJECTION OF THOSE WHO DO! They may be your Boss, Co-Worker, Neighbor, Class mate, your closest friend or even a family member. The Devil does not give up! He will not stop trying to tempt you to “go along to get along”. Even when you don’t, others will claim that you do.

Matthew 11:19 claims Jesus was a glutton, a wino, friend of sinners

Mark        14:64 claims Jesus spoke blasphemy

John          8:48 - 52 that Jesus was possessed by the devil

As Children of the Almighty and Everlasting God we MUST heed the words of Romans 12:2 “Be not conformed to the world, but be ye transformed [Metamorphose – Metamorphosis – change from one thing into something else] by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God”

Like a Spiritual Panama Canal – We must make our own spiritual journey from the Kingdom of the World to the Kingdom of Almighty God through a world full of even more challenges and dangers than Goethals faced.

Like Noah we must enter into our own Spiritual Ark to carry us through the crashing waves, and stormy seas that are all around us here on earth.

2 Corinthians 5:17 assures us that “. . .if any man be IN Christ [Our Spiritual Ark] he is a new creature. The Old Things [like life on earth before the flood] are passed away, behold ALL things become new [like Mankind after God directed Noah to leave the Ark.]

If you need help to face your critics, to face the challenges before you, this making your life difficult and effecting your walk with the lord, we are all here for you. These are challenges common to us all and no one in this family of God will judge you because you have fallen and need help to get back up and make yourself right with the Lord.

If we can lift you up and lighten your load

As we sing # 394 “What Will You Do with Jesus” Ask yourself - What will “I” do with Jesus? Will “I” enter in to His Ark of Salvation so “I” can make my Journey to Eternal Life Safe in His Care?

If we can help you in any way 

Come forward now as we stand and sing!