TWO PROCESSIONS

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.  For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?  2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (ESV) 

This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It is so descriptive. We can see the parade passing by with our triumphant Lord Jesus Christ leading a procession of His followers. Necklaces of flowers adorn some of the heroes of the faith. Petals are tossed on the ground so the feet of the troops marching by crush them and release their aroma. There are shouts of acclaim from the bystanders and flourishes by the bands. Each contingent carries a banner identifying their unit.

At the end of the end of the ceremonial promenade are the captured enemy warriors and leaders. The end of this march will bring them to judgment – death, imprisonment, or slavery. The crushed petal waft the odor of promised death to them.

I thought of this passage of Scripture when I read of Dennis Rodman’s trip to North Korea with some other former professional basketball players from the United States. They will play an exhibition game with a North Korean baskertball team to honor the birthday of Kim Jong-Eun whom Dennis Rodman calls his “friend for life.” 

When the current dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-Eun led the funeral procession for his father, the previous North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Il, there were seven other men walking alongside the hearse with Kim Jong-Eun. Their position in this procession declared their power and importance. This was in December 2011.

Since that time three of these seven have lost their power and importance. U Tong-Chuk the head of State Security, and Ri Yong-Ho, a leader in the People’s Army, the Workers’ Party, and the Political Bureau were driven from power. Then several weeks ago, the most powerful man of the seven, Jang Sung-Thaek, the husband of Kim Kyoung-Hui (who is sister of the late Kim Jong-Il) along with Ri Yong-Ho and reportedly eighty others were executed. Said Kim Jong-Eun, “There is no room for two suns in the sky.”

Those of us who are following the Lord Jesus in His triumphal march to present the prizes of His conquests to the Father, do not have to fear that we will be sent to the rear of the procession, lose our position as children of God, and be damned to perdition.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.  John 10:28-29 (ESV)  

CHRISTMAS 1950

When I was twelve, on Saturdays, I went up to the Acme Market with my wagon, stood outside, and asked the shoppers if I could haul their groceries home for them. One Saturday in early December 1950 it was bitter cold. The wind was blowing and it started to snow. Usually we received a dime for each load of groceries. That Saturday I got something else. I came down with a fever and a sore throat.

After several days I was no better and I had sharp pains in my joints. My father called a doctor, making it clear to him that he had no money to pay him. Doctor Levin drove to the housing project where we lived and examined me. He gave my mother sulpha pills for my sore throat and fever. He came back every several days. After a week or so, he told my parents that I had rheumatic fever and that I would have to go to a hospital. He arranged for me to go to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Sinai Hospital was across the street from Johns Hopkin’s Hospital and was a research and teaching hospital like Hopkins. Most of its doctors and nurses were Jewish. I was in the children’s ward, a charity ward. Children whose parents could pay were in semi-private rooms.

At twelve years of age I was older than most, if not all, of the two dozen children in the ward. I was in the hospital a couple weeks. When the doctor came around each morning, he was accompanied by a nurse carrying my chart and over a dozen interns. He would explain how my case of rheumatic fever was unique, would show them my joints and the tape from the electrocardiograph machine which showed the anomalies in my heart.

As it drew near to Christmas, the little ones kept asking the nurses, “Will Santa Claus know where I am? Will he leave my present at home?” When no nurses were around we would talk quietly. The kids would ask why there were no Christmas tree or Christmas decorations. With all the sophistication of my twelve years I would say, “You dummies. This is a Jewish hospital. Jews don’t believe in Jesus or celebrate Christmas.”

The day before Christmas all of the children in the ward were taken into a large room. In it were a huge Christmas tree, tables with Christmas decorations, and chairs. First, we had a special Christmas dinner. Then one of the Jewish nurses led us in singing Christmas songs and carols. One of the Jewish doctors played lively piano accompaniment while also singing. Finally, Santa himself came in, dragging a bag too large to carry. Each of us received three or four toys or games or dolls. There were no inexpensive gifts. They were the best dolls, best toys, and best games.

God bless those Jewish doctors and nurses who gave two dozen poor Gentile children the best Christmas they ever had! For a few it was the last Christmas they had.

BUCKWHEAT FLOUR

When we lived in West Virginia, in November the stores would have shelves filled with buckwheat flour. By the end of the month it was gone.  Buckwheat flour was packaged in a heavy, white paper sack tied at the top with a piece of twine string. The bag would have BUCKWHEAT FLOUR, and a simple design like a barn or a tractor. On the bottom would be printed the weight, the mill where it was ground, and the town in West Virginia where the mill was located. On the back of the bag, imprinted with a rubber stamp, there would be a recipe for buckwheat pancakes, or sometimes the recipe was on a slip of paper inside the bag.

To make the batter for buckwheat pancakes, mix buckwheat flour, baking soda, and buttermilk or you can use sweet milk and yeast. Let the batter sit out all night. The next day, add eggs, molasses, and more milk to thin the batter.

Buckwheat pancakes are an acquired taste. My wife and sons never acquired the taste. The pancakes are heavy enough so that a stack of them would hold down a barn roof in a hurricane. A bellyful will keep your feet on the ground in the worst snow squall. They are grey in color like papier mache made from newspapers. I would love to have a stack of them right now.

When I left West Virginia I had to give up a number of foods that are reserved for mountaineers – ramps, salt rising bread, scrapple, leather britches beans cooked with a hunk of salt pork, apples from the sauerkraut barrel, and buckwheat pancakes.

HEINRICH AND HALLOWE'EN

HEINRICH AND HALLOWE’EN

By Troy Lynn Pritt

Over the years, Heinrich the cat learned to hate Hallowe’en. When he was a young and foolish kitten, he ran around excitedly following first one group of trick-or-treaters and then another. He playfully chased the discarded candy wrappers blowing around in the yard. He learned that being a black cat had certain advantages on Hallowe’en night. He could hide behind a tree and jump out at a group of children, arching his back and hissing. The children would squeal, scream, and run away.

He discovered Hallowe’en wasn’t all fun. There was one Hallowe’en when some older boys decided to get back at him for scaring them when they were younger. Several of them came after him with Hallowe’en  masks covering their faces. There was a full moon which meant he couldn’t use darkness to evade them. They put him in a sack with several caramel apples. The more he fought to get out, the more the sticky caramel tangled and matted his fur.

As he grew older, Heinrich spent much less time in playing and more time in napping. Hallowe’en became a noisy interruption to his nocturnal slumbering. There was no place in the house to get away from the repeated sounds of the doorbell ringing, and childish voices squealing “Trick or treat”.

Last year, when he gave up on trying to doze, he decided to have one more fling at scaring the pesky demons. He slipped outside through a group at the door receiving its candy dole. Heinrich found a place to hide until the next gaggle of gigglers arrived. When they were huddled around the door, punching the door bell, he knocked over the broom. The sound was like the report of a gun. When the kids jumped away in fright, he arched his back and hissed like a Bengali tiger. The little monsters ran away in panic.

AT WHOSE EXPENSE?

The current debate and wrangling over the Affordable Health Care Act, the Federal Budget, and the Federal Borrowing Limit has bandied about accusations of Big Brother, taking away personal liberties, destroying business, and a lot of other emotional issues. Please consider with me some basic issues that are not being brought out to the light of day but are at the root of the emotion and energy generated by these issues.

The new health care law is going to raise the cost of health insurance for many people and many businesses. People are now given the chance to purchase health insurance who could not purchase it before because they have preexisting health problems. By excluding them, health insurance premiums were kept lower for the people who had health insurance. Up to now health insurance has been affordable for the majority of people because it was unavailable to those who were high risks. For this and a number of other reasons 41,000,000 Americans did not have health insurance. Before the advent of “Obamacare” health insurance, though expensive, was kept artificially low at the expense of those who need health insurance the most.

The same spirit of “keep the price low for me, I don’t care how” has led to the flight of jobs from the U.S.A. to countries where labor costs are much lower. It has also led to the madness of deficit financing of the Federal budget in the last decades. If an individual consistently spent more than he/she earned and used a credit card to increase their spending; and if this same individual paid only the minimum on their credit card account each month, we would that person is a fool. That is exactly what the Federal government has been doing for years. The voters demand that taxes be lowered and their Congressmen accede to their demands. Now we have a two pronged fiscal crisis involving the Federal budget and the Federal borrowing limit.

Where are the leaders who have the courage to say, “You are going to have to pay higher health insurance premiums so that everyone will have access to health care.” and “You are going to have to pay higher taxes, much higher taxes, so that we can have a truly balanced budget and so that we can begin to make significant reductions in the Federal debt.”?

HONOR OBAMA

It is very distressing to me to see on social media the personal attacks on the President, the Vice-President, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry. I see these attacks being made by the same people who post “Let’s see how many likes we can get for Jesus” and similar messages. Most of these people then are Christians.

It is one thing to discuss and argue the merits of an issue which has not been passed by the Congress and signed by the President. It is quite another thing to continue to attack what has become the law of the land. People who declare that they will not obey a law they do not like are “lawless”. Personal attacks upon the President and other government leaders are attacks on God. Refusal to obey laws that are not contrary to Scripture are rebellion against God.

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. (Romans 13:1-7 NKJV)

Who elected Obama, Biden, Pelosi, et all? It was God who chose them an eternity ago. Why was the healthcare bill passed? It was God’s will for it to pass. Anyone who resorts to personal attacks on the President or other government leader has forgotten or does not believe that God is in control. “He has ordained whatsoever comes to pass.”

STONEHENGE REDUX

In England there is a mammoth circle of massive stones.  It took an incredible amount of effort to bring those stones to that location and place them upright in a precise correlation to one another. No one knows their meaning or purpose (though there are numerous conjectures) and they are no longer used.

In my lifetime I have seen a number of abandoned churches, seminaries, Christian colleges, and other Christian endeavors discontinue their labors and leave abandoned buildings behind them. In Baltimore a Presbyterian Church that had a tremendous ministry for many years was faced with the need for major repairs. The congregation decided to dissolve the church. There is now a McDonald’s on that busy and strategic street corner. In my second pastorate, there had once been a chapel out in the country that served a number of families. A new preacher at the church in town didn’t want to preach twice, so the chapel closed. It is now a hay barn. A church that I was serving closed. It is now a community center.

These are just a few examples. All over this country and all over Europe there are empty church buildings in various states of disrepair. In one sense they are memorial signs marking once vibrant testimonies to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In another sense they are tombstones marking the decline of vital Christianity.

Why is Christianity weakening in its influence and failing to attract the enthusiasm of the current and next generation of young adults and youth? Politics, the struggle for material success, television, social media, and smart phones are the modern day Baals, Ashtoreths, and even Molechs. Just as the ancient Israelites deceived themselves into thinking that they could worship the LORD and Baal, modern Americans think they can love God and mammon. Our faint attempts to keep an allegiance to Christianity that costs little of our time, interferes little with our behavior, and demands no commitment to daily Bible study and prayer will only bring down the wrath of God for our ingratitude.