Attacked By An Alien: The Saga Continues

Good Monday Morning To You!!!

I was hoping by this week I would be feeling better after my bout with the virus. I had to miss church last week, and even though I was sick and had fever, I still felt guilty about being home. I’ll never understand how some people can be hit and miss in their church attendance and be satisfied with that. I wasn’t up to par yesterday, but the Lord saw me through. He gave me the voice to complete the message, but I’ve got to admit, I felt much worse than I let on. As bad as I feel, Miss Bessie feels much worse. She still has fever, a nagging cough, and according to Dr. Engle, “junk in her lungs.” With fever, she is still contagious, but I do not believe that I am. I don’t think I put anybody at risk yesterday, but I still kept my distance.

Again this week we made no TV recording. My voice was gone by the end of the message, and to re-preach it was not going to be possible. If you have missed any of the videos, or have not yet seen one, you can by going to www.facebook.com/friendshipharmony. You do not have to have a Facebook account to watch the videos. I hope the videos are a blessing to you, and it is a great way to invite me into your home without having to feed me. If you ever do invite me over, I love meatloaf --- but that’s another story.

I hope you are feeling fine and do not catch this bug going around. My doctor told me that lots of people are down with it, and he said that just when you think you are getting better, it flips around and gets you again. This has been true in Miss Bessie’s and my case.

Stay well! Wash your hands often, and gargle with an antiseptic mouthwash several times a day. An old country doctor told me that. He said he did it and was never sick. There is probably a lot of truth in what Doc Freiden had to say!

I’ll see you next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!

Attacked By An Alien

Good Monday Morning to you!!!

Early Sunday Morning, about 4:00 am, I woke up fully covered, but freezing like I was laying on a hockey rink. If that wasn’t bad enough, I couldn’t catch my breath. You have never experienced fright as what you have when you cannot breathe. My first thought was my heart. In an action very uncharacteristic for me, I asked Miss Bessie to call 911. She called and they very quickly assured us that my heart was fine. With my chills, my body aches, and the fever, they thought I might have a bug that is going around. I made several visits to several hospitals last week, so I expect I picked up something in the hospital. Miss Bessie had spent 4 days in the hospital. But my symptoms were nothing like hers.

At this point I want to thank our associate Pastor, Bob Felber. I called Bob about 7:00 am, and he graciously agreed to fill the pulpit. Bob and I both understand the Biblical mandate we are under as preachers. 2 Tim. 4:2 says
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” I have been on both sides of that mandate as has Pastor Felber. In any event, it seemed so weird to be in bed on Sunday morning. Thank you to Bob for pinch hitting. I heard he knocked it out of the park. Thanks also to Bill Wolfe, Eleanor McDonnell, and the entire FHBC congregation for carrying on. I’m so proud of you!

Sitting here typing is physically draining, so I’d better get to bed. Rotten is the best way to describe how Vic and Bess both feel. Miss Bessie is still sick herself, so this will be interesting.

Pray for Miss Bessie and me when it goes well with you!!! May God bless you and I’ll see you next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic.

Busy But Blessed

Good Monday Morning To You!

I had one of those really great days yesterday. It started with a fantastic service at Friendship Harmony. After a good discussion in Sunday School, The Majestic Sounds Quartet from Cincinnati, Ohio sang for us. It was our third anniversary/homecoming and the glory of God rained down upon our service. I gave the group all the time they wanted to sing, then I made a few brief remarks. When the invitation was given, one precious young lady came and received Christ as her Lord and Savior. What a blessing! What a Heaven bought blessing!!

After the service was dismissed, we observed that time honored tradition that most Christians keep: we feasted. I’ll say one thing for Baptist women, they sure can cook. What a meal it was! Later that day I had a luncheon to attend in Ft. Myers, so I decided not to eat too much. What I had decided to do and what I did do was two different things. I put on the feed sack and feasted. Two different ladies made meatloaf, and since that is my favorite food in all the galaxy, I tried a piece of both. They were both magnificent. All the food was good. Next month on March 9, we will do it again. Our featured guest will be Fiddlin’ Bill from right here in our area. Bill is a touring professional, and is always a crowd pleaser. Be sure to mark your calendars now, so that if you are anywhere within driving distance, you can join us. Of course, you are always invited to all FHBC services. They’re all pretty special.

As I said, Bess and I was invited to attend an alumni luncheon from my high school alma mater, Norwood High School. I graduated in 1972 and there were graduates there from as far back as 1962. For me it was an absolute treat. I’ve never been able to attend a class reunion, so this was pretty special. I was even able to reconnect with a couple I went to church with nearly thirty years ago: Paul and Barbara Crosson. Paul was the minister of music at the Tri-County Baptist Church in Cincinnati, and was perhaps the best music director I have ever known. Whether he was leading the choir or the congregation, he pulled better out of you than you thought you could give. Paul's wife, Barbara, is also a Norwood High School graduate.

Today is shaping up to be special as well. Tonight the class I teach at the South West Florida Bible Seminary will be presenting their mid term projects. I do not give a mid term exam, but assign a project that reflects what we are studying. This class is Parabolic Interpretation, so each student is to write their own parable. It can be about anything they wish, religious or secular, but it must follow the interpretive rules. I believe they will do well! I will let you know next week.

By way of an announcement, there will be no video posting tomorrow. With the group singing, we did not tape due to copyright restrictions. You can, however, view past videos if you’d like. You can see them at www.facebook.com/friendshipharmony. Remember, you do not have to have a Facebook account to view the videos. I hope you will let me know what you think of our new condensed videos. We no longer tape the entire message, but do a “mini message” using the same notes. We try to keep the length to about 10 minutes. Be sure to let me know what you think.

Stay safe and well, so that I can see you again next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!

VIDEO CHANGE IS REALITY

Good Monday Morning To You!!!

I hope you had an excellent weekend and that all is well with you. The Cooper family here in Southwest Florida is doing fine. Did your pick win the super bowl? As of the time of the writing of this blog, The Seahawks are ahead 43-8, and I am thrilled. My grandson, Nathan, is a Seahawk fan, so I’m sticking with him. Either way, when the sun comes up in the morning, and it surely will, life moves on. It is fun to have something to root for and to cheer about. It makes life more bearable. However, when your team loses, shrug it off, move on, and “wait until next year.” Believe me, I know. I’m from Cincinnati!

I want to take this opportunity to announced to you that the changes we had planned for the video ministry have been made. As I previously explained, I realize that gazing into a computer screen for 30 minutes tends to be a bit difficult. We hope we solved that dilemma for you. We no longer record the morning message live. After everyone leaves, we record a 10 minute synopsis of the sermon. The same notes are used, it is just cut down in length. I do hope this helps. You can view the video at www.facebook.com/friendshipharmony. Would you please view it and let me know what you think? Your feed back is of great value to us. Remember, you do not have to have a facebook account to see the video. Just click onto the link provided.

The service at Friendship Harmony was super. Our pianist was not in attendance, so we sang a-capella. Eleanor did a fine job of leading us and sang a beautiful solo on the song, “He Touched Me,” We are so blessed to have her and Allan with us.

Friendship Harmony is truly a team ministry. Many people perform many ministries that make this church successful. I am blessed as the Pastor to only have to wear one hat. I do my job, everyone else does theirs, and it clicks. That is how it is supposed to work.

Here are the notes from yesterday’s message. It is titled, “The Fox In The Hen House,” and it is the parable of the wheat and the tares. Why not copy the notes, then follow along with the video. The video should be ready by Tuesday morning.

The Fox In The Hen House
Matthew 13:24-30
By Victor Cooper
02/01/14

Intro: Parable comes from the Hebrew word Mashal and means defining what is unknown by using what is known. It is a mini drama with a cast of characters. By knowing the cast of characters, it is easier to see the meaning of the story.
Three points to remember concerning parables:
1. Every parable has a point.
2. A parable will push for a decision.
3. A parable is a picture of reality.

The Cast Of Characters
The land owner Jesus
The field The Church
Sleeping men Church members
Servants Pastors
The Enemy Satan
Place of burning Hell
The Barn Heaven

I. V24 The field
A. In general, the world
B. Specifically, the church

II. V 25 Sleepers --- lukewarm; won’t take a stand
A. Examples: Churches of Pergamos, and Thyatira from Revelation 2.
While the church sleeps, the devil works overtime.
B. “went his way” sneering, smugness of Satan

III. V 26 Wheat and tares together
A. You could not tell one from the other until the wheat bloomed.
B. By then it was too late to weed the fields; the wheat and tare roots were intertwined.

IV. V 27 The question: How did the weeds get in in the first place.
A. This is stupid question #1.

V. v 28 There has been a fox in the hen house.
A. Stupid question #2: Shall we weed the field?
B. Illogical question: they knew better.
C. The servants are showing a complete lack of reason.

VI. V 29-30 The day of reckoning awaits.
A. Both must grow together.
1. This protects the wheat
2. The wheat has value.
B. The burning tares would be used for heat as there was limited forest land.
C. The wheat was safe and secure in the barn.


May the Lord bless your upcoming week, and remember, your comments are always appreciated. E- mails can be sent to preachercooper@hotmail.com. I’ll see you next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!