You will be reading this on Christmas Eve – which may mean a lot of different things to different people. For some it is a last-minute rush to complete all the details before the big day. For others – especially those with little children – the day is a joyous exercise in managing almost magical expectations. For still others, Christmas Eve is the occasion of a long drive to get back ‘home’ for the holiday. Some will be dragging all the hidden treasures from closets and others will have had gifts under the tree for a while now. Some will spend the whole day baking – filling a home with the warm comforting scent of breads and cookies. Additional personal traditions range from night cruises to take in the local light shows to a big mug of hot chocolate and a favorite Christmas movie. A few will volunteer at soup kitchens while others brave the stores for a final bout of shopping. Some few still close out a work-day with an office party – many will join in a special worship and prayer event. Some will sing sacred carols and some will laugh at ditties about the demise of grandma as she fell under the hooves. Some will consume more alcohol than is good for them. Many will sit alone and mourn the absence of lost loved ones. We may well revel in their blessings – a healthy practice to which I am not objecting – though we may also find our miseries accentuated by the ‘joys’ of the holiday season from which we feel – excluded – which I also understand. A number of people will be shot in American cities – some will die – sadly, such tragedies do not take a yule-tide break. Millions will focus on Santa – millions more on the Christ Child. Some of us will see opportunities to make peace and some of us will see opportunities to make money. The ways in which this day will be spent exceed my capacity to describe. But wherever you are and whatever you are doing, whether the day finds you buoyed by exaltation or mired in depression – I hope you can take a moment to know this – Jesus came for you. In whatever aspects of this grand national celebration you may not feel included – or, if you are included in so many as to be a bit overwhelmed – Jesus came for you. Whether you know Him yet or not – if you once knew Him but have lost the connection, if you have heard about Him but never yet taken the time to consider what you have heard seriously – Jesus came for you. Tomorrow is Christmas and Jesus came for you.
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Ok – a briefer St. Nick post this time. I said before how I did not know when and how Saint Nicholas came to be associated with the North Pole. Not being content with not knowing – I did a little a checking. I can now report that a cartoonist by name of Thomas Nast submitted a series of drawings to Harpers Weekly from the early 1860’s through the late 1880’s of a Santa’s Christmas Village with a very general address of N.P. (North Pole – as was made clear by several elements of the drawings. Prior to 1909, the North Pole was a much mysterious place than afterwards. After all, no one had ever gotten there or at least lived to tell about it. But it was understood to be, shall we say, sparsely populated and generally very snowy. Both of these facts fit well with the concept of a magical figure associated with a winter holiday. So, there you have it – Thank you Mr. Nast.
That said, I will always remember what set in motion one of the many projects here at IRCC. For several years we manufactured and sold (for only the cost of materials) nativity sets. They were what is reckoned as 1/3 life size and constructed of plywood painted white. (The owner of one of our sets painted his up in detail and color.) The full set featured Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, three wisemen, three camels, a donkey, a sheep, and a cow. We would make whatever combination of figures anyone wanted. All figures were 3D rather than flat and (when assembled) free standing – until it got more than just so windy! For the set we used at the church for many years, bricks for weight or tent stakes for anchors settled that problem. We haven’t made them for a few years now but already this season I have seen them start to pop up. Anyway – how did that project get started. I had, for a few years, experienced increasing discomfort over the state of Christmas themed lawn sets I saw around the community. Nativity scenes increasingly waned in favor of snowmen, Rudolf, and of course Santa – in his traditional sleigh or on a motorcycle, tractor or even in a flying saucer. Then, one Christmas, penguins became a popular item in Christmas lawn décor. ‘Penguins!’ I thought to myself. ‘Penguins aren’t even from the North Pole!’ It immediately occurred to me that if I was down to defending an orthodoxy as far afield as Santa’s residency in the North Pole, our thinking about Christmas had strayed far indeed! So, we started making the nativity sets. As I said, they are still out there. Also, as perhaps you have perceived, it was wondering how Santa ever found his way to the North Pole in the first place that sparked the memory about the origin of the Nativity project. So, I suppose, thank you again Mr. Nast. Let’s think about Christ at Christmas. Every year at IRCC on a Sunday morning in December, I tell the kids the truth about Santa Claus – with an opportunity for any parents who wish, to have their children excused. I will present here a slightly more detailed and adult version of that truth. Santa Claus is real! He just lived a long time ago – nowhere near the North Pole.
He was born Nicholas of Bari in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). His family was wealthy and prominent and he was able to travel and become well educated. His interests lay with the church as opposed to the military or industry. Eventually, he became the Bishop of Myra – also in Turkey. Almost everything we know about him was written at least a century after his death (born in AD 270, died in AD 343 at 73 years of age) so the authenticity of the information is much argued. In the end, much of it is reckoned to have at least a core of historical validity – the exception being several miracles attributed to Nicholas (He is often referred to as Nicholas the Wonder Worker. Of the miracles I will say nothing here beyond the fact that the rumor of them contributes to the ‘magical’ nature of his reputation as Santa Claus. When Nicholas’ wealthy parents died, he is said to have distributed their money to the poor by means of a prolonged campaign of secret gift giving – especially to young people – though most of his gift giving doesn’t match our conception of Christmas gift giving. An example: Nicholas was aware of a poor man with three daughters. Having no funds to provide doweries, the man was unable to arrange marriages for his daughters so they would be cared for after he was gone. Before you go all crazy on me – it was a different time and, fair or not, women in those circumstances depended on men to take care of them. It is entirely true that without dowries, the future prospects of poor girls were – limited. It was also true that the estimate of ‘marriageable’ age – was a bit lower than we have. These girls would have been what we would call children. Often such poor girls would be forced into prostitution or a life of hard and miserable labor to procure a very minimal standard of living. Nicholas came by late at night and dropped a bag of gold through a window in the poor man’s house. Using that as a dowry, the man arranged a marriage for his oldest girl. No sooner was that done than a second late night gold drop occurred. And, after the middle daughter was married off – a third. Most of Nicholas’ secret gift giving follows a similar pattern, i.e., his generosity saving people from ill circumstances. Alright then – a secret gift giver presumed to have the power to work wonders – I don’t much care for the term ‘magic’ but it falls into the modern narrative. Nicholas is said to have attended the famous Nicean Council (If you don’t know what the Nicean Council was – look it up). For now, suffice it to say it was an event upon which several doctrinal questions were decided for the larger church. One of the issues in contention was classic Trinitarianism (God is three and yet one) verses Arianism – so called for a cleric named Arius. Arius held that Jesus did not exist before his arrival in Bethlehem – that God begot Jesus in ‘time’ – so that, unlike God the Father, God the Son had a beginning. This would make Jesus distinct from God – related to Him but not ‘One With God’ as per trinitarianism. Nicholas argued with Arius and things got so heated that Nicholas is said to have slapped Arius (or punched him in the nose depending on the source). So, our magical secret gift giver now becomes forever associated with Christmas – the birth of Christ – even if we have forgotten the specifics of the original doctrinal dispute. BTW – Nicholas did get in trouble for this even though the council ultimately sided with him on Trinitarianism. Nicholas was never a stranger to trouble. Under the anti-Christian campaign of the Emperor Diocletian, Nicholas went to prison. When Constantine came to power and made Christianity the state religion, Nicholas (and many others) were released. After his death Nicholas was made a Saint with all the usual hoopla of church building, relocation of bones, becoming the patron saint of this and that group. He was an immensely popular saint throughout the Middle Ages. In some strange fashion, the most popular story of St. Nicholas at the time involved a terrible man who murdered and pickled children to be sold as ‘pork’ during a famine. I will leave you to seek more on that tale on your own. After the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century, the popularity of Nicholas died all over Europe with the exception of Holland where the name ‘Nicholas’ was rendered as ‘Klause’. Sinter (Saint) Klause (Nicholas). Well, that explains something. The Dutch legends of Sinter Klause met American Popular Culture in the 19th Century and – presto – Santa Claus – a magical secret gift giver and lover of young people with a built in on ramp to Christmas! How the North Pole got into the act is beyond me. But the legend remembers something of the truth. And the truth always comes back to Jesus Christ. If the actual Saint Nicholas saw what we sometimes do with Christmas – he just might punch us in the nose. In studying for a recent sermon on the 85th Psalm I spent a little time refreshing myself on the Sons of Korah. This group wrote lyrics for Psalms to be used in the national worship of Israel. 11 of their compositions survive scattered a bit through the 150 Psalms of the Biblical book. They are scattered because the Sons of Korah operated over a number of successive generations. The story is a little complex and best understood by backing up to the beginning – or at least – a beginning. Moses and Aaron were Israelites from the tribe of Levi. Aaron and his descendants were appointed to be the high priests and larger priesthood who would perform the services in the tabernacle – and later – the temple. The rest of the Levites served as helpers of one sort and another according to the line of their descent from Levi. To sharpen that up a little, Levi had three sons – Gershon, Merari, and Kohath. The descendants of Gershon tended the fabric tent of the tabernacle itself. Before the tent was set up permanently at Shiloh, it had to be taken down, folded, packed transported, and set up again in the new location every time the Israelites moved (40 years plus worth). The fabric would also need mending and parts of it would need replaced from time to time. The descendants of Merari tended the wooden frame on which the fabric was suspended. It also had to be taken down, transported, set up, mended, parts replaced, damaged carvings looked after, etc. The descendants of Kohath tended the implements used in the ceremonies – the ark of the covenant, the menorah, the big brass bowl, smaller bowls and pans, tongs, shovels, knives, incense- dispensers, lamps etc. used by the priests in the various ceremonies. There was also firewood to be chopped, water to be fetched, blood and ashes to be disposed of, etc. All these chores were also divided among the Levites but the three ancestral groups had their main tasks originally in reference to the tabernacle. All well and good.
Early in the course of things, a Kohathite named Korah became the leader of what is called the ‘grumbling rebellion’. Korah spread discontent among the people and eventually got the ear of enough followers to feel emboldened to call for the stoning of Moses and Aaron, an abandoning of the entire promised land project and a return to Egypt – this would include a return to the gods of Egypt in favor of Yahweh. God caused the earth to open up and swallow Korah and a couple hundred of his associates. But – the text specifically notes – the sons of Korah did not perish with him. We presume they were not caught up in the rebellion. They lived and continued to serve as they had been called. Scripture hints and the rabbinic writings assert that they did a little more than this – that they set out as group to overcome the negative legacy of their father. More on that in a bit. Some generations later we come across a descendant of Korah you would recognize. His name was Samuel. Among other things, Samuel would anoint David as the king to replace Saul and be the next link in God’s ongoing covenant with Abraham. David would do a lot of things. Among them, being something of a musician and composer himself, David would take thought for the worship music of Israel. He, of course, wrote many Psalms. David also appointed Asaph (a descendent of Levi through Gershon), Ethan (a descendant of Levi through Merari) and Heman (a descendant of Levi through Kohath) to carry on and expand the worship music project. In this generation, the Kohathites under Heman officially organized themselves as ‘The sons of Korah. (Another group of the ‘sons of Korah’ took up military like operating as something like what we call ‘Special Forces’ but that doesn’t really come in to the present narrative). The Sons of Korah under Heman were top- flight lyricists. Check our the first few verses of Psalms 42 and 46 as familiar examples of their craft. Or, look especially at verse 10 of Psalm 85 at the part about mercy and truth meeting together and righteousness kissing peace. I specially note two things about all this.
First – a couple of updates on past blog entries.
But – here is the thing, Critical Race Theory directly challenges this political understanding and method of mine – At least I perceive that it does. And, if CRT is correct – it should challenge my understanding and methodology. If CRT is correct, all the things I wish to ‘conserve’ need to be trashed. So, it becomes important to try to understand what CRT is. The first thing to note is that Critical Theory preceded Critical Race Theory. Critical Theory arises from Marxism (Which does not mean that it’s all wrong). Emerging Critical Theorists said that previous sociology concentrated only on ‘understanding’ societies and cultures. What was needed, they said, was a scientific project not simply to understand but to critique/criticize societies and cultures, educate people as to the hidden levers of power that dominated their lives, challenge power structures and liberate humans from the circumstances that enslaved them – even if they were unaware of their enslavement. Although Critical Theory has undergone several changes over the years – the primary thought has been that the ‘founders’ of societies and ‘influences’ of culture create and steer cultural structures, economic systems, political philosophies, etc. that operate to their own advantage. This kind of shaping and steering, Critical Theory asserts, can be done consciously or unconsciously; the founders and influencers are after all, captive to the cultural assumptions in which they were raised. Hence – yes Lincoln freed the slaves but he still believed that white people were essentially superior to black people. In case you didn’t know, Lincoln did believe that at the time. Read the Lincoln/Douglass Debates. There is some evidence that Lincoln’s thoughts on the matter were changing before his untimely death. And arguments can be raised that preserving the Union for reasons of economic advantage and the maintenance of military and political power were as important motivators for Lincoln as his more humanitarian anti-slavery views. See! It was about preserving a way of life that was advantageous to Lincoln and people like him! Well, it wasn’t all about that but we would be foolish to think such factors were absent. Moving on! Critical Race Theory narrows the focus of this societal/cultural critique and correction to, well, race. In our case, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln et al were white men who, though somewhat racially progressive for their times, still held views and participated in practices quite out of step with our times. This is true. They hailed from the very white European cultures Critical Theory was directed against. Also true. Consciously and unconsciously, they shaped our nation/society/culture to the advantage of people like themselves – WEALTHY WHITE MEN! Well, that is the question. At least it is the central ‘critique’ offered by CRT. The founders may not always have known they were doing it. We may have forgotten it was done and fail to perceive the racist currents of the ocean in which we swim. (Note: I am speaking here, as best I understand it, in the voice of CRT advocates.) So, the goal of CRT is to educate people as to the hidden levers of power that affect their lives, critique the racism embedded in our culture, and free us all from the circumstances that enslave us – even though we may be unaware of our enslavement. And the reason we don’t realize our enslavement is that American White racism is as pervasive and invisible as the air we breathe. Even laws which are formally and technically ‘color blind’ get bent by the invisible forces embedded in our culture (Store security watch black kids closer than white kids, judges and juries are harder on black men than on white men, police look at black people with more suspicion, etc.) so that the outcomes are racist. And until we realize and correct these things, we are all racist by virtue of our inclusion in the corrupt culture. There is my best attempt to explain CRT. You may accept it completely or reject it completely as that is your (to use a loaded term) privilege. For myself, I recognize that there is some truth in it. And – I took the time to read ‘Not My Idea’ and ‘Woke Baby’. Although I thought Woke Baby was silly – in the silly vein of the equally silly ‘Feminist Baby’ of which it is an imitation – neither book is quite what its critics allege. I can still only give them one star. Maybe a star and a half for Not My Idea and half a star for Woke Baby. It averages out. Now, I will tell you that despite seeing some truth in the central tenets of CRT, I find the movement’s corrective prescriptions to be unconscionably evil. Overturning law enforcement will not set anyone free. Judging people by their skin color – even as an adjunct to their culture – will never bring us together. And most importantly, race is really not the issue. I do not deny that there is a capricious cruelty loose in mankind nor that it results in barbarism, abuse, and exploitation. This is a central tenet of my belief system – Christianity. And I need everyone to understand that I do not identify as ‘White. I identify as ‘Christian’! I have more in common with another Christian of any shade of brown than with a non-Christian of my own particular hue or blood line. To employ the cliché – we suffer from a ‘sin’ problem not a ‘skin’ problem. Consider that darker brown Africans practiced slavery, cruelty, extreme otherness, etc. long before they met any Europeans. The Aztecs – another shade of brown – practiced slavery, torture and human sacrifice before their euro-encounters. And when white Europeans only knew each other – they were not universally kind to each other despite all being essentially the same shade of brown. To mistake a human problem for a narrowly racial problem (or an economic problem or …..) is to make a wrong diagnosis – which will always lead to a wrong prescription. October has long been my favorite month. I love the cool mornings and generally warmer afternoons. I love the colors – which, admittedly are a bit slow this year. I love the smells of Fall. I love the finishing up of the harvest. Granted – raking leaves is not my favorite chore but every silver lining exists on a cloud, I guess. And October is generally the month in which the first frost occurs. I never find myself cheering for the first frost on its own account exactly. I like Fall a lot better than Winter and I know how the beginning of frosts signals the shift from the one to the other. But the first frost portends a few other things as well. These days it signals the end of the mowing season. Again – if only it didn’t also signal the beginning of the raking season! But I have a grandson mowing my lawn for the first time in my life this year so my celebration at parking the mower for the last time in a calendar year is somewhat reduced. As a kid I knew the first frost meant we were soon going to have persimmon pudding. This was (and remains) a matter of some excitement. I love persimmon pudding. Some years before we left the parsonage and purchased our own home, I had planted several persimmon trees. When I planted them, they were twigs with a few root hairs on one end and a few leaf buds on the other. By the time we left they were past being saplings and turning into nice young trees. I saw from the road the other day that they are actually bearing fruit this year. I wonder if the new owner would accept a claim on the first fruits – after all – I planted the trees! Probably not. But whoever harvests and eats those persimmons, they won’t be fit to eat (my wife says persimmon pudding is never fit to eat – to each their own) until after the first frost. That’s just the way of persimmons. At the home we purchased I really don’t have room to start another persimmon grove. I did, however, build a couple of raised beds and planted, among other things, an experimental crop of salsify (oyster plant). I have never grown or eaten salsify before and am looking forward to a trial dish at a coming Sunday family dinner – after the first frost. Salsify is another plant that requires a frost to develop its distinctive flavor. I’ll let you know how all that goes – after the first frost. The first frost is the seasonal end of some things – ruining whatever tomatoes, peppers, etc. may still be out there. But it is the completion/perfection of other things like persimmons and salsify. It is no surprise that the changing of the seasons should have become a metaphor for life and death. I will add only this: death ruins the hopes of the world but completes/perfects the hopes of the saints. I find that God is good to me here and now. But I know the best things can’t come until after the frost.
Last year we rounded up a truck load of black walnuts and took them to a hulling station down in Holmes County. We’re trying to make a little bigger project of it this year. I have taken two truckloads so far and the hulling station is open for another month! We make a little money (about $100.00 a truck load) which we give to the same ministries we take all the garden produce to. I’ve learned a lot. The meats of the nuts themselves of course are used for food and flavorings. The hard wooden shells of the walnuts make top-notch mulch or can be used in sand blasting. The outer hulls of the walnuts are used in de-worming medicines, stains and dyes (of course – it sure works well on the pants I wear when doing this job!) and as fertilizer. The hulls can also be used to stun fish so you can just pick them up from the surface of the water but I wouldn’t let the DNR catch you at that! There are two species of flies that lay their eggs in the outer hull of black walnuts. If you gather large numbers of nuts you will become acquainted with the maggot stage of the life cycle of those flies. It’s OK. The maggots do not penetrate into the nut itself, content to feed on the (to most other organisms – toxic) outer hull. And – the chickens belonging to the guy who runs the hulling station can’t get enough of them! Those chickens scratch through the hull pile searching the maggots out with great efficiency. We provided them with a feast by sweeping out the truck bed. By the way, all those chickens have black feet. A few of them appear to have rolled in the hulls as well. Perhaps it kills mites and lice. Interestingly enough, the younger children of the guy who runs the hulling station also have dark colored feet! But I digress. Because it’s the way my head works – I counted the number of walnuts it takes to fill the bags I use – about 340-350. I then divided the price I got for each truck load by the number of bags in the truck loads. The long and short of it is this – picking up black walnuts is not quite – but almost – the same as picking up pennies. You take it for what it’s worth – which is about a dime for every twelve walnuts! For myself, I don’t count the time and gasoline against the project because it’s a beautiful time of year for a drive to Holmes County and the guy who runs the hulling station is pretty sociable! If you want in on the action – you can collect your black walnuts – or those of friends and family – and drop them off at the church. Put them in the grass between the barn and the parking lot and I’ll find them. I’ll even give you bags is you need them. Or – if you have a location where a person could pick up anything resembling a truck load – say twenty five to thirty bags – give me a call and we’ll come to you! God bless. In the meantime, remember this truth from Ecclesiastes 11 – Cast your bread on the waters – try seven things or even eight, morning and evening – because you don’t know which one might succeed. Ministry is where you find it and most things are worth a try!
The current set of Facebook devotions (friend and follow us!) is a series of sketches of the minor prophets – generally, the single most neglected portion of Scripture. Jonah, of course is pretty well known to us since the story of Jonah and the fish made great flannel graph episodes in our early Sunday School experience. (If you didn’t get your first sense of the drama of the bible watching an elderly lady move a paper fish with a wide-open mouth up a blue flannel graph background and watch wide-eyed as the dog paddling prophet disappeared behind it – well, you missed it!) As adults, most of us have learned the story of Hosea – the salacious aspects draw us in I guess. And we’ve heard enough sermons on tithing to become acquainted with at least Malachi 3:10. But most Christians can’t tell you what Obadiah is about or even locate Habakkuk without consulting the index. It’s a shame. The background of Habakkuk makes the book fairly riveting material and you really aren’t prepared to read the book of Revelation until you have first read the prophecy of Zechariah. My point – we should not neglect the minor prophets. In considering these twelve prophetic voices (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum. Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai. Zechariah and Malachi) I think probably Nahum is the most neglected of the overall neglected set. You can prove me wrong (or right) by stopping right now to summarize what you know about Nahum before reading any farther. I’ll wait. … OK
We know almost nothing about Nahum’s personal circumstances except that he was an Elkoshite and we don’t know for sure where that village may have been. There are various proposals for locations in Galilee and Judea though the traditional tomb of Nahum is in Alquosh, Iraq. The book was likely written in Judea but Nahum may have been born abroad. Nahum is, in a sense – the Anti-Jonah. Jonah (reluctantly) preached repentance to the great city of Nineveh – and Nineveh repented and escaped destruction. About 200 years later Nahum prophesied the complete and utter destruction of Nineveh – and Nineveh was completely and utterly destroyed. The book is generally dated (neverminding the varied assertions of more liberal Bible scholars who don’t accept the possibility of prophecy) around 620 BC. In Nahum 3:8 the destruction of No-Amon is (Thebes) is recalled as a past event. Thebes fell in 661 BC. Nineveh fell in 612 BC. A fairly firm set of parentheses is thus established and the prophecy of Nahum is seen to be a short term prediction. Though it is not obvious to us as readers of an English translation, the prophecy of Nahum is a masterful acrostic poem. Calvin thought Nahum painted the most-clear picture of the nature of God in all of the Bible. Calvin would! The terms used to describe the humiliation, pillage, and destruction of Nineveh are stark, brutal, and graphic – including the bit about pulling her (the city’s) dress off over her head and putting her nakedness on public display. The idea is that in the destruction, the corruption of the city (and the larger Assyrian Empire) will be laid bare. For instance, when people see the way that Nineveh’s leaders grab what they can of the city’s vast wealth and flee like rats from a sinking ship – lessons are learned by the onlookers. The principle remains true – judgment reveals corruption. Nahum teaches other important truths. The repentance accomplished in the days of Jonah did no good for those folk’s great grandchildren. Every generation has to answer for itself. And last here (though there is much more that can be learned from Nahum) I concentrate on Nahum 3:12 ‘All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit. When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.. Nineveh (like many another locale we might name) enjoyed the pleasures of sin – for a season. For a while, the sinful store up treasure and enjoy prosperity and seeming security. But God did once say that the sin of the Cannanites was not yet ripe. When it was ripe, all their houses, lands, and crops turned out to be built, tended and raised for their conquerors. It can be galling to see the wild prosperity of the wicked. How do men like Weinstein and Epstein gather so much money and power unto themselves while treating their fellow humans so abominably? Well, people pursue what they value – even if what they value is abominable. Little surprise that they sometimes get it in spades. And while I take no personal delight in the fall of such men – it is good that they fall – and that their fall should be instructive to onlookers – that their pride should be revealed by judgment to be shame. And – that we should realize – the fruits of evil are tended and grown for those who will execute that judgment. Yes, it’s still stark, brutal and graphic – but also true. And even Calvin had a point. We forget these truths at our peril. Thanks Nahum. I just returned from Indiana where I conducted the funeral of my brother-in-law, Jim Renn – a genuinely good guy whose last few years were troubled by Parkinson’s and a stroke. Perhaps another stroke or a heart attack - at any rate something sudden and catastrophic accounted for his death at age 69. Jim made pretty good use of those years. And I am a firm believer in eternity and the world to come, so I plan to see him again. But every death should be a caution to all of us. I knew four of my great grandparents and one great great grandmother. They are all gone. All four of my grandparents are gone. My father is gone. My mother suffers severe dementia and no longer really knows me. And now the first of the sibling set (10 of us – five birth siblings and five in laws) is gone. Jim was five years older than I and, as women generally live five or so years longer than men and my only older sibling is a sister a single year my senior, odds are – I’m next up after mom. And, of course, I have no guarantee of the twenty or so years I ought to have remaining. Jim didn’t get them. All man is appointed once to die. Again, I believe in the world to come so I’m not trying to build up a sense of desperation about THE END. But I am saying that the good we can do in this world has an expiration date – and it’s coming. Do the things that are important. Anyone who isn’t planning on death is a poor planner. And there is another aspect. The life we live here has an impact on our entry into the next world. I believe this to be true even beyond the initial question of salvation – and remember, salvation is to be saved OUT OF this world – which is doomed. But even the saved need to give some thought to this life as preparation for the next. I have greeted every death for the last three decades with one of the requests from the prayer of Moses So teach us to number our days that we may present unto Thee a heart of wisdom.
I just had this discussion in our breakfast Bible study so I will recapitulate it while it’s fresh on my mind. Mark 16:16-18 says that certain signs will accompany believers – namely, they will cast out demons, be protected from snakebite and poison and heal the sick. I believe all of Scripture. So – why do we not handle snakes in our congregation? Why do we not conduct specific healing services? Just as a side note: I have long observed that many more congregations elect to handle snakes than to gulp down cyanide. But hey – name your poison, I guess.
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AuthorPastor and Author Terry Bailey, Senior Pastor of Indian Run Christian Church Archives
December 2022
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