Jeanette Castro

August 9, 1986 – June 25, 2006

“We miss you and love you, and always will.”

The old theologian Jonathan Edwards wrote, “Humility is the greatest and most essential thing in true religion.” All of God’s dealings with humanity from the beginning of time were to effect humility in their lives. Humility is God’s key to inner peace! You cannot obey without it! You cannot love without it! You cannot be who God made you to be without humility!

Lucifer, being created a special angel, allowed pride to arise in his heart. Pride was the root cause of the fall of Lucifer. The culminating war against God and his being cast out of Heaven was because of pride. God knows that if the devil can captivate our spirits and bend them toward pride, he has a great opportunity to devastate our lives. Everything that is good and wholesome and wonderful will be destroyed when pride enters the picture.

When pride enters a home, harmony between husband and wife is destroyed. Relationships between children and parents are destroyed. Sibling rivalry will be found in unhealthy proportions. Many homes are war zones simply because of pride.

Humility is not self-hatred or a lack of self-confidence. Rather, it is the ability to see oneself through God’s eyes. A humble person increasingly sees himself as he truly is, which lays the foundation for contentment and healthy self-esteem. In contrast, pride is spiritually blinding. In a demonic catch-22, pride causes us to chase our spiritual tails. We cannot see our pride because we are full of ourselves. Pride is a spiritual veil blinding us to the truth about ourselves.

Instead of contrition, pride leads us to self-righteousness; instead of recognizing the importance of God’s Word, self-righteousness cause one to despise it. Even when we Christians become deliberately disobedient because of pride, it keeps us from properly applying God’s truths to our personal lives and knocks us off balance. Ultimately, it leads us to a place where God truly needs to judge “those other folks”. – -We are so sure that we are so right that we need no personal judgement.

Since humility results in trembling at God’s Word, it brings us into real communion with God. It sensitizes us to His voice. It opens our ears to His instructions and deepens our gratitude. It leads us into greater dependence upon God because we know our desperate need for Him.

The proud do not know the depths of their sinfulness nor their need for God’s unlimited grace. The greater one’s humility, the more he will extract spiritual food. The growing humility will bring a foretaste of a deeper intimacy with God and those around us. There are endless examples of this in people we have read about who have given us themselves in humanitarian work.

As a pastor, one of my fundamental goals of discipleship is to help people grow in humility. When I simply want to make people happy, I make them unhealthy! Until we understand our need for change, which is an important step in humility, our self-esteem will flat-line!

To cultivate humility, we must first admit that we are proud, even if we cannot see obvious evidence of our arrogance. “Ask somebody!” is often the advice of those who do not know what to wear, but it is also the right question when we wish to grow in grace.

Everyone who sees the majesty of God will see himself with greater clarity. We must pray for spiritual illumination so we can see more of God in and through ourselves.

We need to immerse ourselves in God’s spiritual mirrors, which is God’s Word. When we contrast our “enlightenment” with God’s wisdom, our selfishness in light of God’s love, and our weaknesses in contrast to His strength, we will find a joy of self-confidence that we have aimlessly sought.

“No one has ever stood so tall as when he has bent his spirit to lift another’s!” Humility will help us become who God created us to be.

We trust that your Independence Day celebrations consisted of more than just “fireworks”! Yes, the community display was great and those around the Chapel put on a show that was also impressive. But, I believe that the 4th of July should also be about recognizing those, who not only won our freedoms, but those who keep winning them day after day. I happen to be in the “political camp” of those who believe that “fighting ‘them’ over there” keeps the peace here at home! I personally did not like being drafted out of college, nor did I rejoice the day our son joined the Army, but we gladly served because we believe that the fight is worth the sacrifice. Not only should we veterans remember those away from home this holiday, but I believe every American who remembers helps our nation stand taller!

We appreciate the opportunity to serve three fishing tournaments the weekend of June 26. We served Lagnippe, the Houston Big Game Shootout, and Pescado Grande. Our part was different for each event, but our community was blessed by our servicing. Thank you for allowing us to help; people in our community felt the blessing!

We helped celebrate the home going of two people connected with our congregation. On Monday, July 4, we attended the funeral of Jane Pongratz’s mom in Austwell. She had been a faithful member of the Methodist church in her community. I remember attending the Bible studies that she hosted weekly in her home. She will be missed, not only by those in her immediate family, but also in her church family.

Tuesday, July 5, we attended the funeral for Kathy Smith’s dad. He had served as a deacon in Seadrift Baptist Church for many years. He was a faithful “soldier of the cross”, and the appreciation of that community was evidenced at his celebration. His widow and their family are not the only ones who feel the void that has been left by his home-going.

The week of July 10-16 is extra large this year! Our special friend and frequent pulpit guest has been invited to preach the Community of Churches Revival in Port Lavaca during that week. We trust that everyone will get the opportunity to help support this revival effort with Evangelist Rod Vincent.

Wednesday through Saturday, we will be participating in Poco Bueno, as we have been doing for many years. Not only will we be helping clean the fish donated to the Chapel, but also gleaning the evening meals. This year, not only will we be helping local needy families, but we will also be assisting a rehabilitation center that many of you know. It is called “Strong Tower” and is located in Kerrville. It works with both men and women and also has a place for family treatment. Strong Tower has an effective cure rate of over 85%, in seeing those who complete the program becoming not only productive citizens, but also people who are working for the Lord’s Kingdom. They will be in service with us at the Chapel on Sunday, July 17, in the morning service.

Our Friday Night Youth activities for July 8 will be mainly outdoors events. All kids from this area are invited to come for a great evening of fun, food, and fellowship. Times are 7-10 p.m. The next Friday Night Youth event will be on July 29. We will not have FNY on July 15 because of our involvement with Poco Bueno. On the July 29 outing, we will be gathering at the Front Beach to meet kids from other communities. The activities will begin at 4:00 p.m. with a basketball tournament. Those interested should contact Patrick at 512-655-3357. There will be many different activities, concluding with a great Youth Service. If you miss this special event, you will have regrets!

Our next Captain’s Class, conducted by the Sea Academy, is scheduled for July 29-August 7, here at the Chapel. For additional information, please contact the Sea Academy at 361-758-6184 or the instructor, Captain Robert, at 361-816-3010.

At the Chapel, we have been having some exciting services, with an unusual number of guests. We are an interdenominational congregation who is in this community for one reason – to help people make Heaven their home! You will always find a warm welcome at the Chapel and are urged to, “Come, grow with us!”

Dear Editor:

The Harbor Children’s Alliance and Victim Center would like to thank everyone who helped make our 2011 Pescado Grande Fishing Tournament such a wonderful success! We are so appreciative of all of our sponsors: TexasSaltwaterFishing.com; KAVU Channel 25; Ganem & Kelly Surveying, Inc; RLB Contracting, Inc; Boedeker Construction Inc.; Pathways, Inc.; theChupacabra Outdoors.com; Mayer Family; Accident and Injury Center; Allan Motte Ranch; H E B; Formosa Plastics; SeaportLakes.com/Eagle Rock Homes; Elite Mechanical, Republic Services and Alfa Laval. Special thanks to Port Lavaca Lions Club members for cooking the Saturday evening meal and to Jerry and Jan Nutt for preparing the Friday evening meal. Thanks also to the businesses and individuals who made donations of goods and/or services to ensure that this event flourished. Additionally, we want to thank all of the many volunteers who gave of their time and talents so willing to make our tournament a rousing success. Thanks to the contributions of each of you, this tournament was one of our best ever! We also want to thank all the fishermen and their families for their faithful support of our fishing tournament!

Sincerely,
The Harbor Children’s Alliance and Victim Center

My two cents worth by G.B.

Doom and Gloom – I hear it every day.

Most of us have it a lot better than our parents.

Nice homes with heat and air condition, at least two TV’s, riding lawn mowers, two cars, maybe a boat, plenty to eat, social security, Medicare, etc.

I hear some people bad mouthing the President and using the N word. Maybe they should be in North Korea or Iran where if you say anything bad about the President there you will more than likely disappear the next day.

Come on kick back and enjoy life. Thank the Lord for what you have and accomplished in this ole cruel world.

G.B. Robertson

Helpful Citizen

On Friday, June 24, a boat capsized in the water out off the Seadrift bay front. Robert Bryant, Seadrift Water Works Director, saw that there were kids on top of the capsized boat and people in the water. He waved down a boat that was coming in, belonging to Mr. Ralph Cox. Mr. Cox immediately went and got the people in the water and the kids off the upside down boat.

The City of Seadrift would like to thank and commend Mr. Ralph Cox for his help in this rescue.

The City of Seadrift

Blood Donations

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to come donate blood on June 30th on my behalf.

Again, “Thank You”.

Nancy Harborth

Editor’s Note: The June 30 Blood Drive in Port O’Connor was very successful. More than 30 persons turned out to donate and 25 units of blood were collected.

Letters to the Dolphin:

Dolphin Talk
P.O. Box 777
Port O’Connor, TX 77982
dolphin1@tisd.net

Marty

“Let’s play! Let’s do something together!” if you want a companion who’s ready for attention 24/7, then come meet Marty. Not only is he a Jack Russell terrier mix, he’s still a puppy, about 8 months old. This is one happy fella, everyone is an instant friend for Marty, and it takes a while for the batteries to run down.

BeeGee
We know what you’re thinking: “Oh, just another one of those orange cats.” Trust us: BeeGee is much loved by all the shelter volunteers because of his many wonderful traits.. About 10 months old, he’s loving, happy, easy going, accepts other cats readily, has loads of personality, is very talkative, just an all around good cat that will add so much to your life.
Come see BeeGee, Marty, and all the other animals at the Port Lavaca Animal Shelter, 201 Stringham Drive (across from the rodeo arena), Monday through Saturday, 10 to 2, or call the Calhoun County Humane Society, 553-8916. You can also view him and other animals ready for adoption on line at www.calhouncountyhumanesociety.org
Thanks and we’ll be waiting for you!