The St. Martin's Prime Timers are glad that you found our web page!

We meet each Sunday in the Payne Education Center from 10:10am to 10:50 in rooms 207-209. You are invited to join us each week for coffee, breakfast treats and currently Paul's pastoral sermons to Timothy waiting just for you.

Would you like to make a float?

All the St. Martin's A.B.F. groups are making "floats" for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. Caroline Maryan is leading our group project to decorate our float. Our new mentor, newly appointed Vice-Rector the Rev. B. Massey Gentry, will get to parade the float around. If you would like to help decorate it call Caroline at 713/974-1490.

Prime Timers Good News!

At the beginning of our class members can contribute to our chicken Henny Penny and report on good things in their lives.

This week your reporter donated a dollar to tell a story with a happy ending about our 17 year old cat, Leo. He stopped eating and was losing weight, you could feel his bones when you picked him up. The veterinarian suspected cancer and did an ultrasound and blood work. This may be another year the cat's health care is more than mine! We prepared for the worst but when the tests came back he was negative for cancer! The sickness came from an inflamed liver, but its treatable. Leo responded almost immediately to anti-biotics and is eating more like normal. In fact, he is convinced that more of these liquid drug treatments are not necessary, but it looks like the bottle will last another week or so!

Pursue Righteousness

Today's vocabulary word is syllogism, in logic this is a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion. An example would be All humans are mortal (the major premise) I am human (the minor premise) therefore, I am mortal (the conclusion). Or more generally it is a way of arguing from the general to the specific, and sometimes is used to make specious or false statements that appear at first to have some merit.

Our reading for this Sunday was another of Paul's pastoral sermons to Timothy. Paul writes a series of "Do's and Don'ts" for the early Christians. The first two "Don'ts" occur again and again in Paul's writings:  Don't quarrel about words and avoid Godless chatter. Chatter, he writes, spreads "like gangrene." Zooming forward to 2006 it is easy to draw the parallel with today's culture of lots of heat and very little light. Bobbie Griffith-Winner used the media as an example of people who could benefit from Paul's wisdom.

Among the "Do's" are establishing a firm foundation in God's teachings and a metaphor of a large house consisting of many things, some of gold and silver, but others of wood and clay, some for noble purposes others for ignoble. Jackie Rose suggested this is meant that we try to become useful implements for God's work.

Then we are advised to "Flee the evil desires of youth" (2 Timothy 2:22) and to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. Certainly good advice for everyone.

Skip then asked the class if you can draw a line between healthy debate and stupid, senseless wrangling over words. A member added that isn't this how we end up with so many denominations of Christianity! Skip added that there is always a danger of drawing hateful syllogisms on the order of "I have the truth", "Other people are stupid", therefore they don't know the truth, and further that maybe they are inferior to me. We need to avoid finding ourselves drawn into this kind of logic that does no one any good.

Look the example of the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, people are dying over this! Another member mentioned how there are moderate Muslims, and that their vocal opposition to the kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll may well be why she is still alive. We can only pray that this is true. Dr. Bill Moore, still recalling the retreat he was on recently, mentioned how if the discussion took a wrong turn that anyone could call for silence to invite the Holy Spirit to come in and guide the group. Tell that to TV's legion of talking heads!

Max Kech then led the class in our healing prayer and Skip Maryan did the benediction prior to closing the session.

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leader

Skip Maryan is the Prime Timers leader and current teacher. If you would like to teach our class, contact Skip! He would love to hear from you.

Well, its finally happened, we're putting up photos of our pets. This is 17 year old Leo who used up another of his nine lives recently.

Its always a special treat when the Roses are both in class!

The other Skip in class, Skip Allen and his wife Shirley.

Bobbie Griffith-Winner suggested the media would do well to learn Paul's teaching!

The Lesson for Sunday, February 19th is titled "The Marks of a Helpful Mentor"

Key Verse:  2 Timothy 3:14

Focus of the Lesson:  People choose mentors or role models with whom they identify. What makes a good mentor or role model? As a mentor for Timothy, Paul set an example by trying to follow the teachings of Scripture in all that he did. Paul celebrates God's word as the ultimate guide for all that we do.

The reading is 2 Timothy 3:10-4:8. This text is from the New International Version^®.

   10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

2 Timothy 4:1-8

   1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

   6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

NIV®