Few people enjoy being alone. Most want to have a friend or friends. To have friends one must be a friend. And yet according to Scripture, it is not enough to wear the title "friend." The term is too broad as to be very inclusive.

1. "But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab... " (2 Sam. 13:3). Jonadab was really anything but a friend. It was he who planted in Amnon's mind the idea of the dastardly deed which was to destroy him, namely the assault of his sister Tamar. True friends build up rather than destroy. They encourage righteousness rather than sin.

2. "Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil they made an appointment ... to console with him and comfort him" (Job 2: 11). Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar meant well. But theirs was the mistaken belief that theological dogma could salve a hurting heart. Not only was their theology inadequate, (They are reprimanded by God in Chapter 42) but they failed to share deeply enough the enormity of Job's pain.

3. "...a friend of tax collectors and sinners" (Luke 7:34). Jesus provides the perfect model of friendship. Not only was he a loving presence to the friendless, not only did he share in human suffering (John 11:35), but most of all he demonstrated the selfless quality of his love by laying down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

What kind of friend are you?

“ I Would Be Happy, IF....”
BILL ENLOE

The pianist, Arthur Rubinstein, celebrating his 84th birthday, said, "As long as we have what we have inside, the capacity to love, to work to hear music, to see a flower, to look at the world as it is, nothing can stop us from being happy ... but one thing you must take seriously. You must get rid of the ‘if’s of life. Many people tell you, ‘I would be happy–if I had a certain job, or, if I were better looking, or, if a certain person would marry me.’ There isn't any such thing. You must live your life unconditionally, without the ‘if’s."

It is foolish to base our happiness on something we would "like" to have. The secret of enjoying life is to enjoy it now with what we have. The apostle Paul had found the answer to unhappiness: “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: Every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do a things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

Contentment equates with happiness, and when we learn the secret of contentment as Paul had, then we will be able to achieve true happiness. The wise man in. the long ago wrote: "Behold that which I have seen: It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of a his life that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him- For it is his portion" (Proverbs 5:18). He is truly happy who has learned to be content with and enjoy life as it is - now ... without an "if" attached.

Baptized Into Christ
We rejoice with the angels in heaven that two precious souls obeyed the Gospel of Christ last Tuesday evening (January 20). Henry and Virginia Martinez were baptized into Christ after a study with bro. Bob Bauer. This is the couple that has been attending with sister Frances Black. Keep the Martinez family in your daily prayers that we may be a strength to them, and they to us in the days ahead.

We will run the Martinez’s directory information as soon as it is available.

February Calendars
The February edition of the Activities Calendar and Men To Serve list is available today in the foyer. Be sure to pick-up a copy.

If you had but one week to live, how much time would you spend in the study of the Bible? Would you live the last week you had on earth and not open the Bible? Even if we had many other things to do, we would not neglect the study of God's word.