From the Preaching Minister
September 04, 2008
I wish to attend to another subject today but before I do please
take note of the following advertisement and consider attending.
Cheryl McKenny sings in our Praise Team along with her husband
Michael who also plays when needed or lead guitar, or rhythm guitar
or saxophone or mandolin or...well you get the point. They are an
awesome asset to the worship at Mt. Zion. Cheryl is singing with
this Big Band for this "Picnic Under The Stars." Think about
it...you just might have a "WONDERFUL TIME."
|
"PICNIC UNDER THE STARS"
Saturday, September 6th
at the
Downtown Green in Wilmore
A la carte dining provided by Three Suns Bistro at 6:30 p.m.
featuring:
Pecan Fried Chicken with Praline Glaze Dinner $10
Roasted Beef Brisket Dinner $10
Pecan Fried Chicken Salad $8
Triple Chocolate Cake $3
Beverages $1
(Dinners will be served with vegetable, potatoes and rolls)
MUSIC BEGINs AT 7 P.M. WITH THE OUTSTANDING BIG BAND
SOUNDS OF
THE METROGNOMES
Event is free (with exception of food) and open to the
public.
************************************ |
This past Tuesday, we were all saddened by the sudden home going
of McKenna Hatchett. She is a wonderful lady who we will miss
greatly until...Until we who are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ
greet her once again with our God called time of reunion in Heaven.
Thank you Lord for the time we had with her and I pray her impact
upon our lives will bring tangible results, the saving of others to
your Kingdom.
The time of visitation will be Thursday @ 6 PM until 9 PM and the
time of her funeral service will be @ 10 AM, Friday. There will be a
meal served at MZCC after we return from Clermont Cemetery.
Please keep this wonderful family in your prayers and remember to
help in any way you can. The days following these services will be
the toughest as Tim & Missy, along with the girls continue to
grieve. Be as patient, observant, loyal, kind & trusted as possible
as we try our best to help this fine family get a little bit further
through this deep, deep hurt.
********************************
Confession Time:
For a couple of years I have been in what some might term as a
depressive mode and yet I guess I masked it pretty well. However I
was glad when someone called recently to apologize for something
they had done and yet at the same time I am sure they did not
realize the depth of the hurt inflicted.
I am a person, who recognizes the gift of being able to actually,
realistically & literally feel other people’s pain and then try &
come along side to help, and usually...Usually I can cope with most
things, but this has not been true for some time. I have tried to
wrap myself in MZCC and other ventures, and what seemed to help most
was being able to travel to other churches and places around this
world to share the love of God. But try as I might, I was not
successful...until very recently when the love of God became so
powerfully real, present and recognizable.
A series of events in my own life and yours helped to kick me in the
seat of the pants and get me on with Christ business right here in
Winchester, KY. Oh I will still travel to other places to minister
but I will remember more now than ever just how much I am needed to
minister here. J.D. Miller & I were scheduled to leave this Saturday
for a Week long Revival meeting in the mountains of Kiamichi,
Oklahoma but we decided it was be here this Sunday. I hope you might
better appreciate my "Change" through the following letter to the
Editor of the Lexington-Herald Leader which I composed this morning
when I could not sleep. Seems like the Lord has yet a few more
things to say through, His servant & Your preaching minister:
|
5:30 AM - September, 4th
2008 |
Please allow me to begin by commending The Lexington-Herald
Leader for getting it right. On Tuesday, September 2, 2008
my good friend, 14 year old McKenna Hatchett, passed away
due to what was being reported as a staph infection from a
Soccer injury. The News Media were scrambling to discover
all of the information surrounding her demise and I, her
pastor, was asked by McKenna’s grieving parents, to issue a
statement on one condition: that it would be
told through television how their daughter McKenna
always had a big smile; was a baptized believer in Jesus
Christ and loved her church & Youth group.
When I met with Channels 27 & 36, I voiced this one simple
request to the reporters and they said they would do
so. I then said we needed to wait because Channel 18
was driving up. When Channel 18 was ready, I again presented
the request and all three reporters agreed to comply
with this one request.
Later, when I was told of the television media’s
interpretation of the story given, there wasn’t a
mention of the agreed statement from any station. The
Lexington-Herald Leader did however get it most accurately
correct from the start. Thank you Lexington-Herald Leader
for reporting the news, not re-writing a simple request from
the parents of one, fallen so young.
When I telephoned each News Channel after their 6 PM
segment, I discovered employees who were not so eager now to
care that a family who was hurting, had their only
request, denied. One reporter from Channel 36 even
said she "Did not promise" and then said "Well, I didn’t
give you my word."
I will admit however that Channels 18 & 36 did amend their
11 PM edition to incorporate the parent’s wishes somewhat by
stating McKenna was a Christian. Channel 27 has yet to be as
considerate, which really does not surprise me because a few
years ago as we (Mt. Zion Christian Church in Winchester,
KY.) were hosting a concert by a Gospel singing artist,
Channel 27’s reporter interrupted his singing with bright
lights and began to degrade him in an unwelcomed interview
for an error on his judgment which had made National News a
few years earlier, to which he so eloquently responded by
merely singing "Amazing Grace."
Again, I want to thank the Lexington-Herald Leader for their
thoughtfulness and compassion with regard to the feelings of
McKenna’s parents and their one request. It is still good to
know that here in Central KY there is a newspaper that would
get it right from the outset and TWO
Television stations willing to revise when called to task.
Someone from one station asked what it mattered and I said
it was an agreement which was not honored and it did matter.
This little girls life was lived as a testimony to her
faith, FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, and should have
been given the dignity to let her light shine its brightest
possible, at this her last visible opportunity.
Thank you Lexington-Herald Leader, through your unaltered
reporting you have allowed McKenna Hatchett, One small
beacon of hope, a chance to radiate once again into this
world
For the Cause of Christ, McKenna’s pastor,
Kenny Speakes |
I am sure there will be some who will not agree with me now or in
the future on stands I take but please, just be glad your preaching
minister does take a stand. Some will never stand up for Christ in
any manner, but even if we disagree, please rejoice in the effort,
no matter how misguided you might think that stand to be.
For the Cause of Christ,
Kenny
|
