This morning I met Fred and Gail at Five Points Baptist
Church. We went to Bible Study (Sunday School) and church. I really like the
Pastor, and the folks in the congregation seem quite friendly. There were about
a dozen adults in the Bible Study class and 50-60 people in church.
The Pastor regularly uses the Message bible when he quotes
Scripture. I had never heard of it. I like what I’ve seen of it. I bought a
copy and downloaded in onto my phone a few minutes ago. I will let you know my
further impressions.
The Pastor bears a striking resemblance to my brother; tanned,
shaved head, red van dyke beard, etc. (If I saw them side by side they probably
don’t look as much alike as I think.) Fred told me that the Pastor is a window
salesman during the week. He is apparently also quite the mechanic. He works on,
and rides, motorcycles. Today he told a story about his restoration of a 1946 Taylorcraft
airplane, when he was a young man. The story was about the first time he
piloted the restored plane.
The Pastor’s message was one I needed to hear, especially
after the recent election. The basis of his message came from the 29th
chapter of Jeremiah. The 29th chapter is a letter that the prophet
Jeremiah sent to the Jewish elders and priests (believers) who were in
captivity in Babylon. He started with verse 11 where God tell the Israelites, “I
know what I am doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you,
not to abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” Our nation is going
to change dramatically in the next decade. Obama’s influence will extend far
beyond his next term if he appoints more liberal Supreme Court justices,
justices who ignore the Constitution and make laws in whatever manner they
choose. This passage gives me hope because I think it also applies to the
remaining true Christians in the United States. Quite obviously we are in the
minority, and certainly our nation can no longer remotely be considered to be a
Christian nation.
The Pastor tempered our enthusiasm when he moved back a
verse, to verse 10. In that verse Jeremiah tells them that they will be in
captivity for 70 years. That was something of a downer. We think of a few years
as a long time. In Gods terms I’m sure that 70 years is far less than the blink
of an eye. Even though we are going to be in “captivity” for a long time we
should not lose hope.
The Pastor next read verses 5 thru 7 where Jeremiah tells
them, “Build houses and make yourselves at home. Marry and have children.
Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in
that country and not waste away. Make yourselves at home there and work for the
country’s welfare. Pray for Babylon’s well-being. If things go well for
Babylon, things will go well for you.”
We Christians should not consider ourselves defeated. God
has a plan and he will take care of us. We need to continue to work diligently and
make what we can of ourselves during our “captivity.”
After church I met Fred and Gail at the Golden Corral in
College Station for lunch. When we left they were going to one of the Walmarts
in the Bryan/College Station area and I was going to Krogers to pick up a few
groceries.
I headed of cross country, through town, in the general
direction of the Kroger store. On the way I came across a Walmart, with Lowes
next to it. I wanted to get a saw blade while I was in town so I figured I
would just get my groceries at the Walmart. When I got to the back of the store
there was Gail. It was the Walmart that is their regular Sunday afternoon stop.
I will miss them when they leave a week from tomorrow.
I arrived back home a little after 4. We had a tornado watch
earlier but it has now expired. We are getting some rain, which is certainly
needed. Today’s high was 81, it was still 79 when I got home. The temperature
is now 57 and the low is forecast to be 47, with a high of only 62 tomorrow. We
have had one or two nights with lows in the high 40’s while I have been here
but the “lowest high” we have had was in the mid, maybe high, 70’s. Tomorrow,
and the next couple of days, will be quite a change.
Good night. May God bless you and yours.
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